Independence Sinfonia to Hold Benefit Concert for Upper Dublin Edu Foundation

The members of Independence Sinfonia, a Classical music orchestra, will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as a benefit concert for the Upper Dublin Education Foundation.

The event will take place March 3, at 4 p.m., at the new Upper Dublin High School Performing Arts Center.

The opportunity to perform one of Beethoven’s most powerful and beautiful compositions in the area’s newest and most state-of-the-art facilities has made members of Independence Sinfonia very excited.

“The acoustics are beautiful in the Performing Arts Center,” Margery Hesney, an Independence Sinfonia violinist and member of the board of directors, said. “This will be one of the first public, major concerts of the center.”

Hesney, an Upper Dublin resident, said that Independence Sinfonia performs approximately three concerts each year. She said she joined the orchestra, made up of both amateur and professional musicians, not long after its founding in 1995.

According to the Independence Sinfonia website, its mission is to:

Improve our individual musical skills and knowledge of classical music
Engage in focused and challenging rehearsals
Enrich our communities by fostering an excitement for and enjoyment of classical music.

Bringing Beethoven’s Ninth to Upper Dublin

Currently, Independence Sinfonia rehearses and performs in the First Church of the Brethern in Wyndmoor. According to Hesney, the group of approximately 35 members has primarily explored chamber music. For its March 3 performance, the orchestra is planning on inviting more musicians, as well as members of the Abington Choral Club, taking full advantage of the large performance space.

According to Hesney, she and Independence Sinfonia board president Kim Dolan worked with the Upper Dublin School District, wanting to create the orchestra’s first benefit concert.

As a result, Hesney said that the Upper Dublin Education Foundation invited them to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the Upper Dublin Performing Arts Center.

“It worked out, because the conductor had his heart set for performing Beethoven’s Ninth,” Hesney said.

Jerome Rosen became the Independence Sinfonia conductor in 2008. According to an Independence Sinfonia press release, Rosen is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music with a 40-year career as a member of some of the world’s leading orchestras.

Hesney said that Rosen’s choice of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony should be a good introduction to Classical music, as well as a great chance to see the new perfmaning arts center and support the education foundation.

“It’s an exciting work,” Hesney said. “We encourage everybody to come to the concert.”

Soloists in the March 3 Independence Sinfonia concert will be Cynthia Rasmussen, Soprano, Maja Lisa FritzHuspen, Mezzo-Soprano, Jeffrey Halili-Tenor  and Rocky E. Sellers, Bass-Baritone.

Independence Sinfonia will have its next performance at the First Church of the Brethren May 5. 

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Going to the Independence Sinfonia Performance, benefiting UDEF?

• Where: Upper Dublin High School Performing Arts Center, 800 Loch Alsh Ave. in Fort Washington

• When: March 3, at 4 p.m.

• Admission: $18 for adults; $12 for seniors (age 62 and older) and students (grades kindergarten – 12 or college students with ID). All proceeds benefit the Upper Dublin Education Foundation.

Tickets may be purchased through the Independence Sinfonia website, at the door, as well as at the Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, call 267-625-8534.