Fisk and wife play duet
Classical guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk, a graduate of Jamesville-DeWitt High School, will perform with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26, at the Mulroy Civic Center, 411 Montgomery St., downtown.
Joining Fisk for one number will be his wife, Mexican-born guitarist Zaira Meneses.
Conducting the concert will be JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Fisk and his wife will perform Vivaldi’s Two-Mandolin Concerto, originally written for two mandolins and an excellent showcase for Fisk and Meneses on guitars. A guitar concerto written for Fisk by composer Robert Beaser had its world premiere with the Albany Symphony Orchestra in 2009. In the first of its three movements, Beaser has said, “the guitar literally bursts out of the box and the orchestra provides the foil.” Closing the SSO program is Turina’s fiery “Danzas fantasticas.”
Tickets prices start at $15; call 424-8200, or visit syracusesymphony.org .
Eleanor Roosevelt opera
The Society for New Music premieres an opera downtown based on the life of Eleanor Roosevelt at 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27, at the Carrier Theater at the Mulroy Civic Center, 411 Montgomery St..
“Eleanor Roosevelt,” by Canisius College composer Persis Parshall Vehar, is based on the play “Eleanor: Her Secret Journey, by former Cazenovia writer Rhoda Lerman with Ithaca librettist Gabrielle Vehar. This production celebrates the impact of Central New York on the women’s rights movement.
Eleanor Roosevelt was among the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement after her husband, FDR, endorsed it in 1920. The opera will feature Bridget Moriarty in the title role, along with several of the finest regional singers.
Tickets cost $15, or $12 for students and seniors; 245-1689; societyfornewmusic.org .
Oboe & Strings in F’ville
The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra’s Oboe & Strings Ensemble will perform a free concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 27, at Fayetteville Free Library’s reading room, 300 Orchard St.
The ensemble features Rimma Bergeron-Langlois, violin; Heather Fais, viola; Jackie Wogick, cello; and Anna Petersen Stearns, oboe. The quartet will play a program including the Phantasy Quartet by Benjamin Britten, along with other works for oboe and strings. The concert is part of Stickley Presents The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra Ensemble Series.
For information, call 637-6374, ext. 328, or visit fayettevillefreelibrary.org .
New Riders on Westcott Street
“Panama Red” rides again!
The New Riders of the Purple Sage headline a double bill which begins with the Z-Bones rocking out at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 27, at the Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St., on the East Side. Tickets cost $18 and $20; 424-4973; thewestcotttheater.com .
While more than two dozen musicians have played in the band since its formation in San Francisco in 1969, the New Riders’ present personnel includes David Nelson, Buddy Cage, Michael Falzarano, Ronnie Penque and Johnny Markowski.
The Z-Bones are bandleader Ed Zacholl, plus Lorne Coon, Louie Fortin, Mike Gridley and Mike Lounsbery.
