Milwaukee’s Intimate Orchestra

Many people think that classical music performers, like teachers, take summer off. The nearly 50-member Concord Chamber Orchestra belies such a notion. As their website expounds, the CCO strives “to make classical music accessible” through performances “in smaller, more intimate settings that encourage interaction among the audience members and musicians,” and their “carefully selected repertoire” focuses on “recognizable selections” as well as “unfamiliar and engaging works.”

To this end, they’ assembled a charming summer classical-pops program that you can catch at any of five venues throughout July and August. The classical selections include the “Washington Post March” (1889) of America’s March King, John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), a work second only in popularity to his “Stars and Stripes Forever” (incidentally, the march’s name doesn’t refer to the eponymous newspaper but rather to the Marines posted to the U.S. Capitol). There is also the earthy Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture, curtain raiser for the opera of the same name by Russian composer Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857). This broadly popular overture from the definitive Russian opera employs folk music from Russia, Finland and Central Asia. Also, there’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody,” the most famous tune from Aaron Copland’s landmark ballet, Appalachian Spring (1945). The hymn of note is “Simple Gifts,” to which Copland masterfully spins out a set of variations culminating in a tutti expression of stately grandeur. The CCO also performs the Scherzo from Johannes Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11 (1858).

The popular works to be performed include an armed forces medley, music from James Horner’s score for the movie Titanic, a Frank Sinatra tribute and both film and television score excerpts from the Star Trek franchise. Soprano (and Homestead High School graduate) Grace Bobber joins the CCO for three songs, including “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Paul Simon and “Brave” by Sara Bareilles.

The first performance of the CCO’s outdoor summer concert takes place at Boerner Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners’ Whitnall Park at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 16.