Image courtesy Salina Symphony
Performance to feature Boyer’s 'Ellis Island: The Dream of America'
Salina Symphony
The upcoming Salina Symphony concert will be a collaboration with Theatre Salina.
The concert, Journey, is scheduled for 4 p.m. Jan. 29 in the Stiefel Theatre, 151 S. Santa Fe, and will be under the baton of Music Director Yaniv Segal.
The concert will feature Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America, a work that celebrates the powerful and inspiring stories of those who left their homeland in search of a better life. Innovative in its format, Ellis Island brings elements of theatre and multimedia into the concert hall, employing actors and a compelling visual display of images from the Ellis Island archives.
The symphony will also perform Symphony No. 3 by Grażyna Bacewicz, a Polish composer who wrote under the terror of Soviet rule, illustrating why people sought freedom and refuge in America.
Partnership with Theatre Salina
The symphony will collaborate with Theatre Salina to tell the immigrant stories highlighted in Ellis Island, incorporating four actors selected by Michael Spicer, Theatre Salina executive director.
“Theatre Salina is pleased to partner with the Salina Symphony to present this meaningful work to our community and region,” said Spicer.
The spoken text for the work comes from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, an historic collection of interviews with actual immigrants about their experiences emigrating to America. After extensive research in this archive, Boyer chose the stories of seven immigrants who came to America through Ellis Island from disparate nations between 1910-1940. He fashioned short monologues from the actual words of these immigrants and wove them into an orchestral tapestry which frames and comments on their stories—by turns poignant, humorous, moving and inspiring. The work concludes with a reading of the Emma Lazarus poem “The New Colossus” (“Give me your tired, your poor…”), providing an emotionally powerful ending to this celebration of our nation of immigrants.
Tickets on sale now
Tickets may be purchased at the Stiefel Theatre Box Office, by calling 785-827-1998 or online at salinasymphony.org. Single admission is $29 or $39 and $19 for students.
Pre-concert talk
Join us for a pre-concert talk with Segal and Spicer at 3 p.m. in the Stiefel Theatre Watson Room. Please enter through the main theatre doors. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m.