BPO performing free Lewiston concert

Rob Creenan, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·1 min read

Jun. 26—Lewiston's first free summer concert will be Saturday when the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra comes to town.

The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Academy Park, presented by the Lewiston Council on the Arts and sponsored by Anthony DiMino.

This is the first time the arts council has secured the BPO for a Lewiston performance. The orchestra performed last year for the village's bicentennial.

"We are absolutely thrilled and feel so lucky to be able to have this world-class orchestra performing for us, literally in our own backyard," said Executive Director Maria Fortuna Dean. "We hope that everyone comes out with friends and family and takes advantage of this wonderful opportunity to enjoy the BPO for free."

Led by Argentinian conductor Fernanda Lastra, the orchestra will perform tunes by John Phillip Sousa, Aaron Copeland, Duke Ellington, and from Star Wars, Frozen and Wicked. Special guest Rebekah Grande, the first place winner of the Friends of the BPO Scholarship Competition, will make her debut performance.

Grande, a graduate of Amherst High School, got her start in musical theater by performing at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in Michigan and at the SUNY Fredonia Summer Music Festival. She will be attending Oberlin Conservatory as a vocal performance major in the fall.