March 5, 2008

The Columbia Gorge Sinfonietta will perform its March concert series at The Dalles Civic Auditorium on Friday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 15, at 2 p.m.

These concerts are sponsored by the Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association and will be conducted by its music director, Mark Steighner.

There is no admission charge for these concerts, but contributions are welcome. Refreshments will be sold during intermission.

The concert opens with Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, music from one of Richard Wagner’s operas depicting Siegfried’s departure for new adventures after slaying a dragon and saving a fair lady. Rhine Journey is followed by Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3, which will be performed by Meagan Roby, a resident of The Dalles who is in her first year of teaching music at Hood River Middle School.

A native of Boise, Idaho, Roby began studying the French horn at age 11 and played whenever she could: in concerts, in the Shriners’ Circus Band, for weddings, for graduations, for musicals and operas. Roby is a graduate of the University of Oregon with a degree in music education. Her performance of the Mozart Horn Concerto No. 3 is her first appearance as a soloist with the Sinfonietta.

The Sinfonietta will also perform Colonial Song, a spirited tune by Australian composer Percy Grainger, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 34, one of the more joyful Mozart symphonies.