For the City-Times

The Central State Chamber Orchestra, directed by founder David Becker, will present its final concert this May at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Free and open to the public, the concert will be held Saturday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Michelsen Hall in the Noel Fine Arts Center. A reception will be held immediately following. In its 15^th season, the orchestra is made up of advanced, junior high and high school-aged string players from central Wisconsin. This will be the final performance for the group and Becker, who is retiring from the Aber Suzuki Center at UW-Stevens Point at the end of the academic year.

The concert will include works by Georg Philipp Telemann, Leroy Anderson, Camille Saint Saens and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The orchestra will be joined by dancers from the Point Dance Ensemble in a work called “Choreography – three Dances for String Orchestra” by Norman Dello Joio.  Pamela Luedtke, director and founder of the Point Dance Ensemble, is the choreographer, and dancers include Katelyn Altmann, Amy Suthiemer, Chelsey Becher and Signe Johnson. This work was performed by the orchestra and Point Dance Ensemble in 2010.

The Central State Chamber Orchestra will be replaced by the Central Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Program. This group will include winds, brass and percussion for grades 9-12, a string ensemble for grades 6-8 and a junior wind ensemble for grades 7-9.

For more information about these programs, go to www.uwsp.edu/suzuki or call 715-346-3033.