Sulphur Springs Symphony League
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Current News
The 2011 Auction and Fund Raiser
What a great success for our community. We raised over $12,000.00 which will go toward our orchestra's performance at the 2012 Children's Concert in March and the Independence Day Celebration Concert and Fireworks show. Thank you, donors of items and services, and volunteers, and bidders, and especially KSST Radio and Channel 18. Excellent!
The 2011 Independence Day Celebration
At the 20th annual Independence Day Concert and fireworks show July 2nd a record crowd enjoyed everything from a Flash Mob dancing to a popular tune, to a fly-over by a vintage WWII fighter plane trailing demonstration smoke. And then the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. Douglas Bakenhus, performed 15 selections including Satchmo!, a tribute to Louie Armstrong, some great marches and a lot of patriotic tunes. Doug ended the performance with Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa and the climax was punctuated by an aerial fireworks display that got that portion of the entertainment and celebration off to a loud and sparkly finale. It was a evening full of great music, patriotic chords, salutes to past and present members of the military and their families, and celebration of America and Americans. We the League members and board of directors always enjoy bringing this production to our community. We thank our underwriting sponsors who paid for the lion's share of this program: Alliance Bank, Circle E Western Store, and GSC Enterprises, Inc. Thank you three, and the scores of other League supporters, for your contributions.
The Children's Concert in 2011 was a resounding success, due in part to the performance of "Peter and the Wolf" which was met with smiles, chuckles, and out-loud laughs by the students as well as the League members who attended. Dr. Doug Bakenhus, music director and conductor of the Northeast Symphony Orchestra, donned a white wig of long hair as he described, and the orchestra played, "Passacaille" from the opera "Armide."
Each year the League invites about 1450 students from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades of the Hopkins county school districts as well as home schooled students to the orchestra presentation in the Hopkins County Civic Center. This year 23 students from the Sulphur Springs High School band and orchestra were privileged to play the first two selections alongside the professional musicians who make up our orchestra. The high school students who perform have commented that although the experience is a little intimidating for them, they have a lot of fun and are very pleased to receive suggestions and comments from the pros. The older students are sometimes recognized by the younger students in the audience, which prompted one school musician to observe, "You're a rock star for the day." This annual event is one of the many programs in which the League is involved to entertain and educate the community's young people. We hope these elementary age students and the high school musicians have grown culturally and socially as a result.
Here are photos from the 2011 performance, courtesy of Jim Jones:
Above, Dr. Bakenhus Conducts.
Above, students are attentive even as others file in.
All concerts are made possible through the generosity of League members, including special contributions for this year's Children's Concert received from Dr. I.L. and Deborah Balkcom IV, Joe T. and Nancy Moore, Anne Stahl, Alec and Carol Bridges, Tom and Carolyn Stewart, Owen and Carol Hooten, Bob and Jodie Skidmore, and "Anonymous." Also providing significant support for the league's year-round activities are the Committee of 1000 members Jo McCain, Alliance Bank, Circle E Western Store, Echo Publishing Company, Grocery Supply Company, KSST Radio/Channel 18, the Sulphur Springs Tourism Department, Professional Land Title Company, and Wal-Mart.
We're planning the rest of the 2011 season and hope for a repeat of the great success the community provided during 2010. See what we are doing; click on Calendar of Events on the left side of this page.
What a great success for our community. We raised over $12,000.00 which will go toward our orchestra's performance at the 2012 Children's Concert in March and the Independence Day Celebration Concert and Fireworks show. Thank you, donors of items and services, and volunteers, and bidders, and especially KSST Radio and Channel 18. Excellent!
The 2011 Independence Day Celebration
At the 20th annual Independence Day Concert and fireworks show July 2nd a record crowd enjoyed everything from a Flash Mob dancing to a popular tune, to a fly-over by a vintage WWII fighter plane trailing demonstration smoke. And then the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. Douglas Bakenhus, performed 15 selections including Satchmo!, a tribute to Louie Armstrong, some great marches and a lot of patriotic tunes. Doug ended the performance with Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa and the climax was punctuated by an aerial fireworks display that got that portion of the entertainment and celebration off to a loud and sparkly finale. It was a evening full of great music, patriotic chords, salutes to past and present members of the military and their families, and celebration of America and Americans. We the League members and board of directors always enjoy bringing this production to our community. We thank our underwriting sponsors who paid for the lion's share of this program: Alliance Bank, Circle E Western Store, and GSC Enterprises, Inc. Thank you three, and the scores of other League supporters, for your contributions.
The Children's Concert in 2011 was a resounding success, due in part to the performance of "Peter and the Wolf" which was met with smiles, chuckles, and out-loud laughs by the students as well as the League members who attended. Dr. Doug Bakenhus, music director and conductor of the Northeast Symphony Orchestra, donned a white wig of long hair as he described, and the orchestra played, "Passacaille" from the opera "Armide."
Each year the League invites about 1450 students from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades of the Hopkins county school districts as well as home schooled students to the orchestra presentation in the Hopkins County Civic Center. This year 23 students from the Sulphur Springs High School band and orchestra were privileged to play the first two selections alongside the professional musicians who make up our orchestra. The high school students who perform have commented that although the experience is a little intimidating for them, they have a lot of fun and are very pleased to receive suggestions and comments from the pros. The older students are sometimes recognized by the younger students in the audience, which prompted one school musician to observe, "You're a rock star for the day." This annual event is one of the many programs in which the League is involved to entertain and educate the community's young people. We hope these elementary age students and the high school musicians have grown culturally and socially as a result.
Here are photos from the 2011 performance, courtesy of Jim Jones:
Above, Dr. Bakenhus Conducts.
Above, students are attentive even as others file in.
All concerts are made possible through the generosity of League members, including special contributions for this year's Children's Concert received from Dr. I.L. and Deborah Balkcom IV, Joe T. and Nancy Moore, Anne Stahl, Alec and Carol Bridges, Tom and Carolyn Stewart, Owen and Carol Hooten, Bob and Jodie Skidmore, and "Anonymous." Also providing significant support for the league's year-round activities are the Committee of 1000 members Jo McCain, Alliance Bank, Circle E Western Store, Echo Publishing Company, Grocery Supply Company, KSST Radio/Channel 18, the Sulphur Springs Tourism Department, Professional Land Title Company, and Wal-Mart.
We're planning the rest of the 2011 season and hope for a repeat of the great success the community provided during 2010. See what we are doing; click on Calendar of Events on the left side of this page.
Partners and Colleagues
Contact the symphony league or the Northeast Texas Symphony Association or the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra via e-mail at:
contact@sulphurspringssymphonyleague.org
or write to:
Symphony League
Dwight Corley, President
PO Box 251
Sulphur Springs TX 75483
Community Calendar www.hopcal.org
Visitors and Tourism Bureau www.VisitSulphurSpringsTX.org
Chamber of Commerce www.sulphursprings-tx.com
City of Sulphur Springs, Texas www.sulphurspringstx.org
Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce, Texas www.sulphursprings-tx.com
Hopkins County Regional Civic Center, Texas www.CivicCenterOnLine.com
Mount Vernon Music www.mountvernonmusic.org
Piney Woods Live www.pineywoodslive.com
Terrell Alliance for Education and the Arts www.terrelltexas.com/arts.htm
Texas A&M University at Commerce www.tamu-commerce.edu
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