RETURN TO MIDDLE EARTH with Salem Symphonic Winds & Festival Chorale Oregon

Salem Symphonic Winds will conclude their 50th Anniversary Season by performing Johan de Meij's Symphony No. 5 - RETURN TO MIDDLE EARTH. The performance will include a collaboration with Festival Chorale Oregon and feature soprano Rebecca Fromherz. The program will be presented on Sunday, June 15 at 3 pm in Rose Auditorium at South Salem High School.

The concert will also feature flute soloist Pippa Randolph in the Concerto for Flute and Wind Orchestra by Mide Mower. Mower combined the virtuosic demands of the soloist with jazz elements in the writing for the band. The resulting concerto provides a stunning challenge for the soloist and an entertaining musical ride for the audience.

Rebecca Fromherz is a native of Dallas, Oregon. She earned her Doctorate of Educational Leadership in Trauma-informed Voice Education from George Fox University and is an Inclusion Specialist in Singing and Special Education. After performing professionally in Europe for twelve years, Rebecca returned to her native Oregon to pursue her calling to show people the voice that resides inside them, regardless of life situation or ability. Her singing students range from ten years old to ninety-four and span a range of diverse abilities and challenges. Rebecca believes in a good God who would not gift a human being with the desire to sing without giving the ability to experience the stuff of song. A fully certified K-12 Music teacher, Rebecca substitute teaches full-time while pursuing her K-12 Special Education teaching endorsement alongside teaching diverse private voice students. She works and acts to further her pursuit of understanding and implementing best practices of equity and equality in education for all. Rebecca maintains her professional singing voice, and though she is even more excited about showing other people their voices, she is delighted to have the chance to share hers.

Pippa has been a member of the Salem Symphonic Winds since 2003, playing flute and piccolo. She teaches a private flute studio and freelances in Salem and Portland. Since 2020, she has taught general music and choir at Gubser Elementary in Keizer, OR.

Pippa and her husband, Brett Randolph, Associate Director of Bands at Sprague High School, have five musically inclined children. Their Randolph Family Band enjoys performing Brett’s challenging arrangements.

Pippa was drawn to the Mower Flute Concerto, commissioned by American university flute professors, for its jazzy elements. British composer Mike Mower, known for his jazz works, created a fun and challenging piece. Pippa discovered it on James Galway’s CD “Tango Del Fuego,” featuring Mower’s “Sonata Latino.” She wanted to introduce something new and enjoyable from the flute repertoire for local audiences.

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