An article in Friday’s (4/22) West Hartford News (Connecticut) states, “Kingswood Oxford creative arts faculty member Richard Chiarappa, who also serves as the music director of the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra, will direct the premiere of his ‘Uncle Sal’s Cello’ during a WHSO children’s concert at Conard High School Thursday, April 28. Chiarappa said he wrote the piece for orchestra and narrator as a tribute to his Uncle Salvatore Silipigni, a longtime cellist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. … Chiarappa said that while his uncle passed away two years ago, Silipigni’s wife and daughter plan to attend the dress rehearsal and perhaps the concert as well. About 800 third-graders, most from West Hartford public elementary schools, will be bused to Conard for the performance, which also will feature a selection of music from ‘Harry Potter’ to Georges Bizet’s ‘Carmen.’ Chiarappa said he recognizes the value of reaching children at a young age. ‘It’s so important…to provide that potentially powerful and unique experience of real orchestral music to youngsters,’ he said.”
Posted April 22, 2011
