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The Oak Ridge Symphony And Chorus Present The World Premiere of "This Will Be Our Reply"

How do we reply to violence? What can we do to make the world a better place? In 1963, following the assasination of JFK, Leonard Bernstein gave a speech in which he commanded musicians to respond by creating the most intensely beautiful music that they could possibly make. Because in a world of violence, music is a necessary healer for the heart and soul. Bernstein's words are now famous: "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." 

Composer Lucas Richman, who is a former conducting student of Leonard Bernstein, took the inspiration of these words and created a three-movement symphony entitled This Will Be Our Reply. The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of Maestro Dan Allcott, will present the world premiere of this beautiful new work, on Saturday March 30th at 7:30pm at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. The symphony will also perform Beethoven's Symphony No.3, which shares much in common with Richman's new piece. 

Tickets and information at www.orcma.org

Melony calls the beautiful mountains of Boone, N.C., home, although she was born near Greensboro, N.C. There’s just something about those Blue Ridge Mountains that got in her blood and never left after she moved there to attend Appalachian State University (ASU). While at ASU, she majored in piano performance and music therapy and began to cultivate a love for accompanying and for collaborating with other musicians. This soon led her to earn a master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Tennessee, which she attended from 2006-2008.