Symphony to perform Pops Concert on Friday and Saturday

The Treasure Valley Heritage Symphony will present their final concert of the season with the annual spring “Pops Concert.” The symphony orchestra directed by Denise Rasmussen will present two concerts; Friday at the Four Rivers Cultural Center and Saturday at the Snake River Heritage Center. Both shows will be at 7:30 with doors opening at 7 p.m. Admission is $10, but students are free.  

 The Pops concert will feature a variety of familiar and fun music from “Lord of the Rings,” “Mission Impossible,” “Star Wars,” and a few patriotic favorites. One special piece “Immer Kliener” (translated as “always smaller”) will feature clarinetist, Shelly Jenkins who will play as she takes her clarinet apart. Jenkins continues to play the instrument even as it shrinks, playing down to even just the mouthpiece. 

 The Treasure Valley Heritage Symphony is a combined orchestra with the Treasure Valley Symphony and the Snake River Heritage Symphony. The two groups combined last fall when the former conductor of the Treasure Valley Symphony stepped down. Due to declining numbers and the need for a director, the best solution was to combine with the Snake River Heritage Symphony and director Denise Rasmussen. 

 The Pops Concert is the final concert of the Treasure Valley Heritage Symphony as they finalize  their first year as a combined group. 

 Rasmussen shared that the group keeps evolving and growing, but she wanted to stay true to the roots of the program she began 11 years ago in Weiser, so the group combined, changing the name to include parts of both. And the group will continue to perform in Weiser along with the performances in Ontario. 

 The group now features 50-60 amazing professional musicians who travel from all around the area from Meridian to Vale and Nyssa and Cambridge to practice and perform with the group. Rassmussen shared that they are a really wonderful and dedicated group to work with. 

 When the group performs in Weiser, the size of the stage only allows for 38 musicians. Priority is given to musicians who were originally part of the Heritage Symphony once all the parts are covered. The two performances work out really well with the two slightly different groups, and although the group at the Snake River Heritage is smaller, the sound is really great in the auditorium. 

 “It’s really a neat place to perform. And we will keep performing for Weiser as long as Weiser keeps coming out to support us. It’s where our roots are,” Rasmussen said.  

 Rasmussen is excited to share that the group has new plans to continue and grow this fall as they bring back the tradition of the children’s concerts to Treasure Valley Community College. They have already invited area schools and they are excited to add this series to their concert schedule beginning next fall.