The “Sundays at the Symphony” series of the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving continues December 12 with holiday music – including a world premiere by area composer Francis Osentowski, chairman of North Lake College’s music department.
Dr. Osentowski’s music for massed orchestra and chorus is “A Holiday Celebration,” three songs with lyrics by area poets Gary Swaim and Edward Garcia. The songs take listeners back to Holy Night, to hear the three kings on their way to Bethlehem, with the plodding gait of the camels, the shepherds’ lullaby, and finally angels celebrating the baby’s birth with harp, horns and cymbals.
The New Philharmonic, conducted by Dr. Sergio Espinosa, will be joined by players from the Irving ISD All-City Orchestra and the voices of the MacArthur High School choir, prepared by Xavier Lazo. The concert is at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, December 12, at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd.
Also on the program are selections from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” along with some of the best-loved Christmas works by Bizet, Corelli, Massenet, Rimsky-Korsakov and Leopold Mozart (father of Wolfgang Amadeus).
Dr. Osentowski’s music for massed orchestra and chorus is “A Holiday Celebration,” three songs with lyrics by area poets Gary Swaim and Edward Garcia. The songs take listeners back to Holy Night, to hear the three kings on their way to Bethlehem, with the plodding gait of the camels, the shepherds’ lullaby, and finally angels celebrating the baby’s birth with harp, horns and cymbals.
The New Philharmonic, conducted by Dr. Sergio Espinosa, will be joined by players from the Irving ISD All-City Orchestra and the voices of the MacArthur High School choir, prepared by Xavier Lazo. The concert is at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, December 12, at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd.
Also on the program are selections from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” along with some of the best-loved Christmas works by Bizet, Corelli, Massenet, Rimsky-Korsakov and Leopold Mozart (father of Wolfgang Amadeus).
“A Holiday Celebration” was commissioned by the orchestra. Its three movements arte titled “Three Kings, “Sleep Well, Baby Jesu” and “The Angels’ Song.”
“Three Kings” depicts the unwavering determination of the three travelers who refuse to lose faith in their ability to find the holy child, despite the hardships of an arduous journey. In Edward Garcia’s poem, the kings long to deliver gifts not only of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but also gifts of music for the child.
In the second movement, the Magi—having found the newborn baby—sing a delicate lullaby beginning with the words, “Sleep well, Baby Jesu, all is still, just for you.” All those assembled at the manger are so awestruck by the beauty of the baby that they are almost speechless and can only murmur the word, “ah…” Then they grow more excited, singing “Bells chime just for you” and “Love is here beneath this star,” and then intone the line, “Sleep well” several times as the child drifts off to sleep.
In the final movement, “The Angel’s Song,” the multitude of heavenly angels, bursting with happiness, is led in a joyous celebration by that famous trumpeter, the archangel Gabriel. Gabriel’s trumpet is accompanied by the sound of harp, cymbals and drums as the wings of angels “fall like snow” over the manger.
The composer, Dr. Osentowski, received his undergraduate degree in music from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and his master’s and doctor of musical arts degrees in composition from the University of North Texas. At UNT, he studied composition with Martin Mailman and William Latham, and electronic music with Merrill Ellis He has done postdoctoral work in film composition at Berklee College of Music, and music theory on a Fulbright Fellowship at New York University.
Dr. Osentowski has composed works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal media, and has written for video, theater, and television. As an educator, he is active as a clinician and adjudicator for student composers, and as a judge for the Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival Singer/songwriter contest in Richardson.
Dr. Osentowski has been a professor of music at North Lake College for more than 30 years. He is married, with a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren.
Mr. Lazo, MacArthur High School choir director, has taken multiple choirs on national and international trips to performance venues such as St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy; St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (Rome); and Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.
He is the worship leader for Eleven7Church in and directs the iPraise Youth choir at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church, both in Southlake. Recipient of a BME degree in vocal music education from Baylor University, Mr. Lazo lives in Keller with his wife and two daughters.
Lyricists Gary Swain and Edward Garcia are longtime members of the Dallas County academic community. Dr. Swaim, former dean of the Fine Arts department at North Lake College, also taught undergraduate writing seminars at the University of Texas at Dallas for eight years; he now teaches graduate seminars in the Masters of Liberal Studies program at Southern Methodist University. Dr. Garcia, retired from Brookhaven College, is now an independent creative writer and professor of English.
The New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving is a community orchestra whose members continue to play their instruments while they serve in other professions: teaching, computer programming, accounting, film-making and others. Since 1988, the orchestra has performed for audiences in Irving and throughout the Metroplex.
General admission tickets range from $8 to $15. For reservations, call 972-252-ARTS (2787).
