In Depth Information on Our 2006 Performers
VOCI –
Summer Festival OrchestraConducted by Eric Benjamin
We are excited to announce the first performance of The Summer Festival Orchestra, a group made up of members of orchestras in Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Erie. They will be performing the original orchestration of Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring”, a work so completely and perfectly suited for a performance in the barn that it promises to be breathtaking in this pastoral setting. The concert will end with the jazzy and upbeat “Rags” of Scott Joplin.
Eric Benjamin is Music Director of the Tuscarawas Philharmonic, and former Resident Conductor of the Akron Symphony. He has also served as the Director of the Akron and Canton Youth Symphonies. His programs have been hailed for their imaginative choice of music and personal appeal to members of the audience. He has directed and prepared the Tuscarawas Philharmonic Chorus, as well as the Akron Gospel Meets Symphony Chorus for performances with orchestra. His rehearsals with and programs featuring the Philharmonic Children’s Chorus have been celebrated as outstanding community events for young people. He has also achieved considerable recognition as a composer and arranger, and was recently named Composer of the Year by the Ohio Music Teachers Association. He is the host and producer of the award-winning radio show "Klassical Kids," a program for young people about classical music airing on WCLV Cleveland at 104.9 FM. He earned a master's degree in orchestral conducting at New England Conservatory and lists among his conducting teachers Gunther Schuller, Kurt Sanderling, Gustav Meier and Leonard Bernstein.
