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Westborough – The 15th annual concert of the Vivaldi Cello Festival Orchestra will take place Sunday, June 21 at the Congregational Church, 57 W. Main St., at 4 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.
The purpose of the event is to give local young musicians an opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra as a soloist in a formal concert setting. Boston musicians who come together each year as the Vivaldi Festival Orchestra accompany the featured soloists. Ian Watson, a world class harpsichord and key board player will be performing. Works by Vivaldi, St. Saens, Haydn and Tchaikovsky will be performed. The conductor is Paul Dulude, director of the Boston Virtuosi, owner of New England Violins in Boston.
Parents and local businesses and organizations sponsor the performance. Donations are encouraged and gratefully received.
Seven of the cellists are students of Maryan McClelland Pietropaolo, who taught at the University of Lowell and Phillips Exeter Academy. She moved to Westborough in 1999 with her husband, Joe Pietropaolo, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra viola section for 39 years. Pietropaolo has her cello studio in Westborough.
Two of the cellists are students of Cynthia Forbes, long time cello continuo for the Vivaldi Festival Orchestra. Forbes teaches at Indian Hill Music, Boston Latin School, the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and maintains a private studio.
Three graduate students of Pietropaolo – Laura Siegel Shechter, Emily Brown and James Hardy- will perform a trio, “Requiem”, by David Pepper in honor of Joseph Pietropaolo.
