This is the orchestra, the band, the choir, the teachers, everybody, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin guest-conducting them, in Verdi’s Finale and Triumphal March from Aida, at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia last night. Our Martina played first horn in orchestra and band, and so we were there, with every other proud parent, and with every other proud parent simply amazed that this happens every year.
Actually, not everyone is in this picture.
Don Liuzzi, timpanist for the Philadelphia Orchestra, is handing the baton after this, his 10th year as All-City’s music director, over to Joseph Conyers, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s assistant principal bass. Liuzzi has raised the profile, the opportunities, and lots of money for All-City, and he will be missed. He took All-City on his shoulders and performed an unbelievable service for the City of Philadelphia, its kids, the School District, and all of its citizens.
I wrote about Don Liuzzi last year here. Peter Dobrin’s Philadelphia Inquirer review is here.
Below, Nézet-Séguin brings Liuzzi out for a bow, and points to him, “This guy. This is the guy.” Well done.
