MSO to go out on a high note with ‘Looking Back, and Forward!’

DeLeone, the symphony’s musical director, said the final concert, “Looking Back, and Forward!” will close out “A Grand Finale!” and 75th anniversary season.

“I think the word that sums up the feeling of all of us, is it’s rather bittersweet. We will go out on a very high note. That’s the way we thought it should be done,” DeLeone said.

MSO will celebrate the last concert with four musical selections on the first half of the program that Wilkerson performed 75 years earlier, including a movement from a Mozart Symphony, “Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550” the “William Tell Overture” and “Bolero.” The concert will open with “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Following intermission, a Suite of music from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” – a movie score from 1964 by French composer Michel Legrand will be a tremendous way to close out concert, DeLeone said.

The concert will feature the 55-to-60-piece Middletown Symphony Orchestra. This year marks the 75th anniversary and final season of MSO, and DeLeone’s 35th anniversary with the orchestra.

“I think it’s wonderful to go out with our heads held high and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the orchestra, but beyond that, the orchestra will leave a legacy fund, The Middletown Symphony Orchestra Legacy Fund, which will be able to produce some scholarships that will be used by talented musicians to help them with their studies of music in college, perhaps,” DeLeone said.

To carry the MSO name and tradition into the future, The Middletown Symphony Board of Directors has established two scholarships that will be awarded annually as part of the Middletown Symphony Orchestra Legacy Fund. And to ensure that DeLeone is honored and always associated with the Middletown Symphony for his 35 years with the orchestra, one of the scholarships has been designated as the “Carmon DeLeone Middletown Symphony Orchestra Legacy Scholarship.”

Additionally, a portion of the endowment from the orchestra will be used to help local organizations in Middletown fund their own activities.

HOW TO GO

What: Middletown Symphony Orchestra's final concert, "Looking Back, and Forward!"

When: Sunday, May 7, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Dave Finkelman Auditorium, Miami University Middletown

Cost: $30 adults, $20 students

More info: Call (513) 424-2426 or www.middletownsymphony.com