The American Youth Philharmonic to perform world premiere of overture by Messiah professor Jim Colonna

The American Youth Philharmonic to perform world premiere of overture by Messiah professor Jim Colonna

The American Youth Philharmonic, under the baton of Maestro Timothy Dixon, will be performing the world premiere performance of “Joshua’s Shop of Miracles and Curiosities” by Jim Colonna. Drs. Dixon and Colonna are both professors at Messiah University in the Graduate Program in Music.

“Joshua’s Shop of Miracles and Curiosities” is an overture influenced by the music of John Williams and Dimitri Shostakovich in a cinematic and programmatic manner. Although it doesn’t depict scenes, it does capture the mysterious creations by Joshua P. Warren, host of the “Strange Things” podcast.

Colonna said the intent is for the music to be heard as an entertainment piece in overture form, explaining: “Imagination and curiosity was the key to unlocking the sounds in my mind’s ear while creating this music. The miracles and curiosities are depicted in the use of whole-tone and octatonic scales and quickly trading instrumentation. The nuances of subtle music in contrast with bold fanfares are passed throughout the overture in a fun, light-hearted manner, similar to Warren’s podcast.”

The performance will take place on May 22, 2022, at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras is a program that strives to provide excellent instruction to the next generation of music leaders and educators in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Visit AYPO.org to learn more about the organization.