The Shippensburg University Community Orchestra took the audience on a cinematic journey at its annual concert this past Sunday at the H.Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center.

Director Mark Hartman led a 59-member orchestra made up of SU students, faculty as well as Shippensburg community members who performed seven pieces that contributed to their “Jazz and Film Music” theme.

It featured music from two Russian composers and one American composer.

The concert also featured musicians Steve Rudolph on piano and Jonathan Ragonese playing both soprano and tenor saxophone. They treated the audience to a jazz centerpiece arranged for orchestra themselves. This guest appearance was made possible by a generous grant from the Student Association Activities Program Board.

The smooth sounds of the “Russian and Ludmilla Overture” kicked off the show followed by “Night on Bald Mt.” This piece can be heard in numerous works including “The Wizard of Oz” and “Fantasia.”

The concert then transformed into the realm of jazz as Steve Rudolph and Jonathan Ragonese took over with their arrangements. They both collaboratively write to create their music which is influenced by poetry.

This section featured “D’Earth, D’Moon, and D’Stars,” which was created for orchestra and piano and saxophone soloists. It continued with the pieces “The Peacocks,” “All the Things You Are” and “You and I Must Part.”

Before the performance of their last piece, Department of Music and Theater Arts Chair Trever R. Famulare took the time to acknowledge SU faculty member as well as Community Orchestra Member Dennis Ritz, who will be retiring at the conclusion of this school year. He was thanked for his years of work with the music and theater department and honored to have been a part of the SU family.

To conclude the concert, one of the longer pieces was performed that is famously known from the Steven Spielberg blockbuster, “ET: the Extra-Terrestrial.” “ET Theme: Adventures on Earth” was written by John Williams and helped the film win the Academy Awards for Best Original Score in 1982.

The orchestra took the audience on an adventure sticking with the “flying” theme of the piece and the film theme of the entire performance.

The audience roared with applause at the conclusion of the show and the hard work that was put forth by all members of the orchestra did not go unnoticed.

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