Boston Civic Symphony To Perform Free Concert On Saturday

The Boston Civic Symphony is coming to the island on Saturday, June 17 to provide a free concert to the island community in support of music education on Nantucket. The concert will be at the high school auditorium and begins at 4 p.m. There will be no intermission, so it is expected to end at around 5:15-5:30 p.m.

This concert will be conducted by Francisco Noya, a prominent figure in the Boston and New England music scene who is also the husband of Public School's Superintendent Beth Hallett.

"This concert will be the same type of stuff you would listen to if you were going to Carnegie Hall in New York or Symphony Hall in Boston," Noya said. "One of the more meaningful things to me is that we will have the kids from the school play together with us. To have them play alongside the professionals is a great experience for the kids, but for us as well."

The Nantucket Intermediate School recently began a strings program, which you can read more about here, and those kids will be the ones to have an opportunity to play alongside the Symphony. NPS music teachers, as well as Hallett, will also join the Symphony to perform.

While there is no charge for entry, people can get premium tickets of various values depending on the size of a donation they are making. Noya said the money will be going towards furthering music education on Nantucket. They can be purchased here.

Noya said investing in music education will help kids for the better as they grow and develop throughout school.

"We could spend hours talking about all the data there is about the importance of music education, how beneficial it is for kids development, how it helps kids in a positive way when it comes to things like the growth of brain function," Noya said. "But beyond that it is a great way to build social cohesion and connections with the community. It is a great way of communicating."

The Boston Civic Symphony was founded in 1924 and is the second oldest orchestra in Boston. The Civic is known for its  presentation of works by masters such as Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. It is also performs pieces by contemporary American composers.

Most of the Symphony's concerts are held at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Noya has led the orchestra since 2017. He was hired following a two-year, worldwide search to replace Max Hobart, who led the orchestra for 38 years.