Palm Beach Florida Weekly

Downtown West Palm Beach to host Harmony performance


Music and dance will combine May 21 for a special performance on the downtown West Palm Beach waterfront for “Harmony: An Exhibition of the Arts.”

Starting at 4 p.m., the Palm Beach Symphony, Ballet Florida and the Dreyfoos School of the Arts Orchestra will come together for a free, two-hour outdoor event at the Meyer Amphitheatre including more than 75 performers. This year’s performance is presented by the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District with support from the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for families to spend a day enjoying our local artists and performers along the spectacular downtown waterfront,” Teneka James-Feaman, associate executive director of the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority, said in a statement. “This once-a-year event is also a great chance to explore what’s new in Downtown West Palm Beach while supporting homegrown talent.”

Palm Beach Symphony will kick off the afternoon of the arts with the national anthem sung by Kaia Clemente, followed by such selections as Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide,” Rossini’s Overture to “Barber of Seville” and Copland’s “An Outdoor Overture.” Ballet Florida joins the Symphony for Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5” and Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance.” Palm Beach Symphony Lisa Bruna B-Major Award winner Dion Sellitti joins the symphony and Ballet Florida to perform Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan.”

Following this year’s call for artists, 20-year-old award-winning singer and trumpeter Chris Santiago will take the stage with Palm Beach Symphony to perform “You’ll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini).” Mr. Santiago is a highly decorated performer as recipient of the 2019 Songbook Celebration Award, 2018-19 Young Artist Award Winner of the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook, 2020 National YoungArts Winner in Jazz Voice. He has garnered local and national audiences with his performance in the Kravis Center Pop Orchestra alongside Michael Feinstein, on Legends Radio 100.3 FM and on radio show “American Standards by the Sea.” This year, he’ll make his Australian debut in the premiere of, “CHET: The Prince of Cool.”

The Harmony program will feature an intermission program with the Dreyfoos School of the Arts Orchestra led by Director Jeffrey Adkins. In the concert’s second half, Dreyfoos School of the Arts Orchestra members will play side by side with Palm Beach Symphony musicians under the baton of Palm Beach Symphony Assistant Conductor Matthew Cooperman to perform popular standards and Broadway hits with “Cole Porter Salute,” “The Carousel Waltz” and selections from “The Sound of Music,” as well as Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell.” Harmony culminates as Ballet Florida returns to the stage to join the Symphony and Dreyfoos musicians in “Buckaroo Holiday” and “Hoedown” from Copland’s “Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo.”

“Harmony makes the arts more inviting, more accessible and, therefore, more relevant to all members of the community,” Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont said in the statement. “It deepens our appreciation of the value of a community so rich in quality cultural experiences.”

Harmony will take place 4-6 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at the Meyer Amphitheatre, 105 Evernia St., downtown West Palm Beach. Guests are encouraged to bring a blanket and picnic basket.

Info: www.DowntownWPBArts.com or 561-833-8873. ¦

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