Dancers to join symphony under the stars

From left, Megan Stoepler, Maria Clark, Lydia Lanzinger, and Spring Healy will perform the opening waltz from 'Paquita' at Sunday's Music Under the Stars. Choreography is by Gail Grant, re-staged by Cassandra Macino.

Joining the Toledo Symphony Concert Band at its Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre performance at 7:30 p.m. Sunday will be dancers from the Cassandra School of Ballet.

"We are very excited that Music Under the Stars is back on track," wrote Cassandra Macino, founder and artistic director of the West Toledo company. It will be the 31st year for the company to appear on the program, she said.

The title of this weekend's concert will be Olympic Fanfare and Favorites, inspired by the upcoming Summer Olympics in London. Expect music by movie-score master John Williams, among other easy-listening works.

Making a regular appearance will be Sam Szor, longtime maestro of Music Under the Stars, and announcer Gordon Ward. Two dance numbers are on the program, to be conducted this weekend by John T. Madden, a music faculty member from Michigan State University, making his Toledo Zoo debut.

One is a quartet variation from Paquita, a classical ballet which gained international renown after its 1847 premiere in Paris.

Choreography for this version was created by Gail Grant, a longtime local dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Macino, a former student of Grant, reset the ballet for her spring concert this year. Dancers will be Maria Clark, Spring Healy, Lydia Lanzinger, and Megan Stoepler.

Also planned for the free event is a crowd favorite, Macino's fancy steps to John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever." Dancers appearing under the stars will be Mary Anderson, Clark, Breah Duschl, Elizabeth Colley, Healy, Mallory Hunyor, Lanzinger, Stoepler, and Nicole Zdybek.

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The Perrysburg Symphony Chorale and its Once in a Blue Moon Players announce its annual benefit, Life is a Cabaret VI, to be presented Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 871 East Boundary St., Perrysburg.

A laugh-a-minute evening of performances by members with a program of Broadway songs, delivered with panache and fresh hors d'oeuvres, is on the program. Along with entertainment and food is a cash bar and various raffles and auctions. Tickets are $20 for singles; $35 for couples, and $150 for a table of 8.

For more information, contact Chuck and Wendie Kiskaddon at 419-874-9126 or Kathy Sawicki at ksawicki@buckeye-express.com.

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How could I miss one of the area's oldest outdoor concert series? inquired a kindly but indignant reader after The Blade ran a compilation of area outdoor concerts two weeks ago.

Answer is, it happens too often, even in this era of seemingly instant and complete communication. So here's an addition to the summertime list of places to go for lovely listening: the Ottawa-Jermain Parks Advisory Board's concert series.

It is held Saturdays from 6 to 8 p.m. in the wonderful old Amphitheater just off the Kenwood Boulevard parking area, near the new Police Museum and across from Toledo Hospital.

This weekend, the Pet Names indie rock group will perform. July 21 will bring Glass City Steel, the steel drum band, and the month will wrap up July 28 with DeZire, a Motown group.

August performances will be retro rock from the '50s-'70s by Bobby Holloway, on Aug. 4, and On the Beach, a pop-rock group, Aug. 11.

Information: 419-936-3887

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The Cleveland Orchestra has moved to its summer home, Blossom Music Festival in Cuyahoga Falls, a time-honored tradition which presents fine classical music under the stars.

Saturday at 8 p.m., the orchestra, with conductor Vassily Sinaisky, will perform an all-Tchaikovsky program, featuring cellist Daniel Muller-Schott. The lush Romeo and Juliet Fantasy, Symphony No. 1, and Rococo Variations for Cello are planned.

A Sunday concert at 7 p.m. will bring conductor/pianist Bramwell Tovey and soprano Tracy Dahl together with the Cleveland Orchestra for a program of works by American composers George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.

Tickets for either concert are $25-$85, with lawn tickets at $20. For more information or to order tickets, call 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit clevelandorchestra.com.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of the event.