The Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra, under the direction of guest conductor Thomas Kociela, will present “Music of Spring” on Saturday, May 10, at 3 PM, and Sunday, May 11, at 3 PM, at Morse Pond School Auditorium, 323 Jones Road, in Falmouth.
The Mother’s Day weekend program includes Overture in C Major by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major, featuring soloist Dovas Lietuvninkas.
Thomas G. Kociela is music director of the Rhode Island College Symphony Orchestra, the Parkway Concert Orchestra (Norwood, MA) and the newly formed Greater Lowell Symphonic Orchestra. He is also the Resident Multi-Camera Video Director at Symphony Hall in Boston.
Fully committed to the joys of sharing music with others, Mr. Kociela, while music director of the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra, received a citation from Lowell’s Mayor Sokhary Chau, stating: “Thomas Kociela has fully dedicated himself to bringing people together through music.” His projects featured the Cambodian and Greek communities, and other special programming. During the pandemic, with the help of prominent civic leaders, he created and presented More Than Self, A Tribute to the Nurses, Doctors and Staff at Lowell General Hospital.
Mr. Kocielaperformed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for seven years as an extra and substitute musician on trombone, euphonium, and bass trumpet. He has a master’s degree in conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music and a bachelor’s degree in performance and music education from the Chicago College of Performing Arts.
Mr. Kociela enjoys the synergy of working with orchestras and audiences. After conducting the FCPO’s summer sessions, Mr. Kociela is delighted to be working with the FCPO again. “The orchestra has very strong players,” he said. “They are able to tackle very difficult repertoire, are very serious about this kind of music, and are very pleasant to work with.”
Mr. Kociela selected the pieces for the Mother’s Day weekend concert to celebrate the season.
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s Overture, composed in 1829 when she was 23 years old, starts slowly and calmly. As instruments awaken in turn, the work becomes spirited, playful, and optimistic, a vivid expression of the promise of spring.
The older sister of the more famous Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny was a gifted composer, writing over 400 pieces, but societal norms—and her brother and father—discouraged her from performing publicly or publishing her music. The overture was the only piece she wrote for orchestra alone, and it was not published for more than 100 years after her death.
“I was pleasantly surprised when Thomas suggested this overture,” said Melanie Hayn, president of the FCPO. “I hadn’t been aware that she had composed any works for orchestra. I am glad we will be able to share this lesser-known work with the audience. Its lightness and variety of interconnected melodies has been a joy to rehearse.”
Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major is considered his finest concerto and remains one of the most frequently performed and beloved classical trumpet concertos. Written in 1796 specifically for Anton Weidinger, a virtuoso trumpet player who had recently invented a keyed trumpet, the concerto makes full use of the chromatic range, more precise pitch control, and expressive potential of the new instrument.
The concerto is lively, joyful, and lighthearted with a lyrical second movement. “Haydn was known as a jokester,” said Mr. Kociela. “The audience knew the limitations of the natural trumpet. Suddenly, it is introduced as a very capable instrument, as Haydn completely explores what the trumpet can do. The concerto was completely captivating at the time, and it still resonates today.”
Soloist Dovas Lietuvninkas, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, received a Fulbright grant to study trumpet and Lithuanian folk instruments in Lithuania in 2017, where he joined the Lithuanian National Symphony in 2018 as principal trumpet. He received his master’s degree in trumpet from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and participated in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Academy program.
Mr. Lietuvninkas returned to the US in 2023, settling in Providence, RI. He is currently principal trumpet of both the Hartford and New Haven Symphony Orchestras in Connecticut, as well as a founder of “something something trumpet,” a collective aiming to make contemporary music more accessible and engaging to diverse audiences.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, is known as the Pastoral Symphony. Explicitly programmatic, the symphony was written to convey specific scenes, moods, and events, rather than abstract musical ideas. Beethoven described it as a depiction of the emotional experience of being in nature, rather than just the sounds of nature.
Written between 1802 and 1808, the symphony is relaxed and optimistic, reflecting Beethoven’s deep love of nature. He gave Its five movements descriptive titles: “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside,” “Scene by the brook,” “Merry gathering of country folk,” “Thunder, storm,” and “Shepherd’s song. Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm.”
“Beethoven’s brilliant Sixth Symphony fits our theme of spring and Mother’s Day beautifully,” said Mr. Kociela. “The orchestra conveys the sounds of birds, the thunderstorm, the shepherd’s song wonderfully well, giving the audience a sense of the delight and solace of spring.”
A donation at the door of $20 for adults and $5 for young professionals is suggested, with free admission for students. Tickets are available only at the door. For more information, visit falmouthchamberplayers.org.
The FCPO is funded in part by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the Falmouth Cultural Council, the Mass Cultural Council, the Falmouth Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation, Cape Cod Melody Tent, and the Woods Hole Foundation.
Notes on The Arts 