The Bahamas National Symphony Will Make History on Abaco.

It is with great pleasure that the Bahamas National Symphony Orchestra will be performing on the island of Abaco in aid of the Pathfinders Scholarship Fund. The two ‘Symphony By The Sea’ concerts will be held on March 15 at 7.30 p.m. under the stars at the Abaco Inn on Elbow Cay and on March 16 at 2.30 p.m. in the Pavilion of the Abaco Beach Resort, Marsh Harbour.

The orchestra has performed on the island of Abaco on three previous occasions; in 1997, 1998 and 2001. On each occasion at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge and also consecutively at the Anglican Parish Hall, Forest Heights Academy and Abaco Beach Hotel. However, this year our visit will make history as it will be the first time the orchestra has travelled as The Bahamas National Symphony Orchestra. All of our visits to Abaco left us with memories to be treasured and we will always remember balancing a large number of orchestra members dressed right down in formals and tuxedos tucked into a little dinghy putt-putting across the Hope Town Harbour from Club Soleil to perform in concert at the Lodge.

The 2001 concert was especially memorable. During the playing of the ‘Thunder and Lightening Polka’ by Johann Strauss, under the stars at he Hope Town Harbour Lodge the sky did amazingly begin to rumble, adding its own percussion effects to those of the orchestra but, fortunately, the rain held off. During our concert the following day at the Abaco Beach Resort, whilst playing the stealthy theme from ‘The Pink Panther’, everyone was amazed when a streaker dashed across in front of the stage. Whilst the audience roared, the orchestra never missed a beat.

The programme this year will be a potpourri of ‘Music You Know and Love’ The first half will begin with the rousing ‘Grand March from Tannhauser’ by Richard Wagner and include other light classics such as the well known first movement from Antonin Dvorak’s ‘New World Symphony’ and beautiful themes from Rimsky Korsakov’s ‘Scheherazade’ (The Young Prince and Princess).

The second section will consist of a lively miscellany of contemporary favourites such as ‘The Impossible Dream’, ‘Music Box Dancer’, ‘Goombay Fantasia’ and close with the hand clapping favourites ‘Celebration’ and Radetsky March’.