Masterworks 2
Billy The Kid
Masterworks 2
Billy the Kid
This concert features American composer Aaron Copland with his dramatic musical story of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid. Copland’s brilliant score takes us through scenes of wagons, a frontier town, a nighttime card game, and even a gun battle from the American West. The concert opens with American composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s Three Latin American Dances, a work depicting rhythms and dances of regions in South America. In addition to featuring our two Young Artist Audition winners, we will also collaborate with the MTAC Youth Orchestra and the Shasta College Chamber Strings in a side-by-side performance of Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances with its flurry of energetic winds and percussion showcasing this sparkling, rhythm-driven dance.
Featured Artists
Erin Elizabeth Van Mol, soprano | Young Artist Audition Winner
JJ Tiefenbach, cello | Young Artist Audition Winner
MTAC Youth Orchestra | Yoshie Muratani, Director
Shasta College Chamber Strings | Jeff Specht, Director
Program
FRANK Three Latin American Dances
BOCCHERINI Cello Concerto in B-flat major, I
GOUNOD Je veux vivre from Romeo and Juliet
BORODIN Polovtsian Dances
COPLAND Suite from Billy the Kid
College University Division
Erin Elizabeth Van Mol, soprano
2025 Young Artist Audition Winner
High School Division
JJ Tiefenbach, cello
2025 Young Artist Audition Winner
MTAC Youth Orchestra Yoshie Muratani, Director
The Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) Butte Youth Orchestra was founded in 2009 thanks to the generous donation from Walter and Dawn Kusumoto. Their vision is to provide young musicians the experience of being a part of something much bigger than what one person can create, helping foster the lifelong enjoyment of music, while also learning essential skills of collaboration, responsibility, creativity, and flexibility.
Shasta College Chamber Strings
Dr. Jeff Specht, Music Director
The Shasta College Concert Orchestra & Chamber Strings is comprised of some of the top young musicians in the region, serving Shasta County and the surrounding areas. The ensemble performs a variety of musical styles including standard, modern, and jazz orchestral literature and is open to musicians of all ages of intermediate and advanced skill levels.
