Sinfonietta Bel Canto hosts New Year’s Benefit Concert

The Sinfonietta Bel Canto New Year’s Benefit Concert will offer some memorable concert delights along with a splendid array of vocal and instrumental solos.

The concert, under the baton of Maestro Dan Pasquale D’Andrea, will be at 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 1, at the acoustically pleasing St. Paul United Church of Christ, 5739 Dunham Road in Downers Grove.

This benefit concert raises needed funding for the ambitious programming of the orchestra’s concert season, as well as their very special Concerto and Voice competitions.

Tickets are $40, $30 for students, or $5 for children under age 12.

Ticket information can be found through the SBC website. sinfoniettabelcanto.org or calling (630) 384-5007. Parking is free and there is ample intimate seating.

This New Year’s Gala will feature some of the most beloved family favorites to bring in the new year. These include Johann Strauss Sr.’s “Radetzky March,” Johann Strauss Jr.’s “The Beautiful Blue Danube” Waltzes, Richard Strauss’s introduction to “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” and Sinigalia’s “Danze Piemontesi.” For the finale, the audience will join in singing the traditional "Auld Lang Syne."

Also featured on the program are operatic and instrumental soloists. These include Dvorak’s “Song of the Moon” with soprano Antoinette Konow; Verdi’s “Sempre Libera” with soprano Marlene Meier Gershon; Donizetti’s “Qule guardo, il cavaliere” by soprano Angela Presutti Korbitz, and Puccini’s “E lucevan le stelle” by tenor Oscaldo Iraheta.

Instrumental features include Beethoven’s Romance Op. 50 with violinist Tamara Glassburg, and Faure’s “Elegy,” Op. 24 by violist Nicolette Cheaure.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and National Endowment for the Arts.