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The Island Senior Symphony is an all-volunteer, Island-wide orchestra
whose members range in age from 30 to 90. The orchestra was started in
1971 by Paul Rudoff to provide a way for retired teachers, amateurs, and
professional musicians to maintain their skills in
an orchestral setting. From the original group, the Island Senior
Symphony has grown to
approximately 55 members, from varying backgrounds, musical abilities,
and with
different reasons for playing in the orchestra. However, all have
a love of standard
classical repertoire.
Currently under the direction of Howard Cinnamon, the Island Senior
Symphony
performs concerts, free of charge to the public, in a variety
of venues, including
churches, libraries, schools, and colleges.
In order to encourage young musicians, the orchestra sponsors an
annual Young
Performers’ Competition open to students up to age 18 who study
with a private teacher.
The first prize, named in honor of the orchestra’s founder, Paul
Rudoff, is a solo
performance with the orchestra at one of its concerts, and a $750
scholarship. There is a
second prize of $500, named in honor of Sam Nachenberg, a long-time
member of the
orchestra.
In an an arrangement with the Brentwood Schools, the orchestra’s
weekly Thursday
morning rehearsals are held at the American Legion Hall in Brentwood. The Orchestra is always looking for additional members, especially
strings, to join in its mission of bringing good classical music to audiences on Long
Island.
The Island Senior Symphony has also performs children’s concerts on a regular basis. Recently it has performed
for students at
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church School (in Bayshore), during Music in
the Schools Month, at the Harborfields Middle School in Greenlawn and elsewhere.
Annually, the orchestra performs for elementary school students in the Brentwood School District. These concert's always feature a recorder group from a local elementary
school. These recorder groups, accompanied by the orchestra, have performed
selections by
Bach and others that were arranged by Brentwood’s Director of Music,
Dr. Joel Ratner.
In addition to the group’s public performances, the Island Senior
Symphony has
performed for the employees of Cablevision in Bethpage, at Caumsett State Park and at Cherry Valley Country Club.
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