Community Orchestra Will Offer December 3 Concert

DANBURY — Danbury Community Orchestra (DCO) will perform under the direction of Stephen Michael Smith, music director and conductor, on Sunday, December 3, at 3 pm. The concert will be in Ives Concert Hall, 181 White Street, on the campus of Western CT State University.

DCO is a group of 80 musicians comprised equally of teenagers and adults from the greater Danbury area. Exceptional high school and adult musicians from more than 15 communities including Bethel, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Monroe, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Southbury, Wilton, Woodbury, and towns in western New York State perform in this orchestra. The orchestra is one of the few orchestras in the country which encourages adults and teenagers to play side by side.

The December 3 program will include suites, dances, an overture, and a march. Music of Beethoven, Berlioz, Smetana, Lutoslawski, and Faure will comprise this one-hour concert which is suitable for families, and even young children, because of the wide variety of music and the short length of the program.

Stephen Michael Smith has been music director and conductor of Danbury Community Orchestra since 2004. He resides in New York City and in New Fairfield. He is the director of the Stephen Smith Singers of New York City, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock. He is the founder and conductor laureate of Sing Out! Brooklyn, and has been guest conductor of numerous orchestras throughout Europe and the USA.

Admission is free, thanks to major funding from The Hand Center of Western Connecticut. Contact Nancy Sudik at Danbury Music Centre, 748-1716, for additional information.