A musical salute to mothers

5/11/2001

A light fare of sing-alongs, Broadway show tunes, operetta, and Top 40 melodies from decades past will serenade mothers and their families when Samuel Szor leads the Toledo Symphony in a Mother's Day concert Sunday evening at the Stranahan Theater. Joining the orchestra will be the Cakewalkin' Jass Band.

The ever-popular Szor seems the right man to lead such a concert. He is still going strong in a Toledo teaching-and-conducting career that has spanned 49 years. Many of the evening's moms will have grown up listening to his music.

Szor began his teaching career at Woodward High School and concluded it at Waite High School. In between, he spent nearly a decade on the faculty of the University of Toledo.

The Cakewalkin' Jass Band, itself a Toledo staple for over 30 years, will join Szor and symphony in an arrangement of “My Mother's Eyes,” a favorite song of comedian George Jessel. The band will play a few solo tunes as well.

The program is aimed at reaching moms across generations.

Szor and the orchestra will feature Broadway music of the 1940s with medleys from Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music. Songs by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber will provide a more modern flavor. Franz Lehar's Golden Summer Waltzes and tunes by Duke Ellington will provide the elegance, while songs by Barry Manilow and the Beach Boys provide the pop groove.

There won't be a dry eye in the house by the time, late in the program, the orchestra gets through Mendelssohn's “Wedding March,” Szor predicted.

The Cakewalkin' Jass Band will join conductor Sam Szor and the Toledo Symphony in a Mother's Day tribute at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Stranahan Theater. Tickets range from $15 to $24. Information: 246-8000.