Summer Concert 2013

July 31, 2013

On Tuesday, July 30, 2013 St. John's University hosted the 15th Annual Summer Concert featuring the Queens Symphony Orchestra, in its 60th season, performing “Viva Verdi & Friends” that included various operatic selections of renowned composer Giuseppe Verdi. This special performance was a commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth and celebrated 2013 being the Year of Italian Culture in the United States.

A majestic St. Augustine Hall was the backdrop for this special concert, and beautiful summer weather added to the night’s festivities that was free to the community at large. The setting, as well, was perfect for the Orchestra’s magnificent sound and further heightened the enthusiasm and turn out of the hundreds of alumni and neighbors who spread out across the University’s Great Lawn. The concert was a joint effort of St. John’s University’s Offices of Community Relations and Alumni Relations and was co-sponsored by Con Edison, the Italian Cultural Center and Office of Media Relations at St. John’s University, and Coca Cola.

Beginning the evening of music, Gabriella Terzulli, Class of ’15 Graduate School of Education, sang the St. John's University Alma Mater and American National Anthem. Following the playing of the Italian National Anthem, Dino Sorrentino, Deputy Consul General of Italy to New York, welcomed the crowd on behalf of Claudio Bisogniero, Ambassador of Italy to the United States, and thanked them for their support of Italian culture and the arts, particularly as 2013 is the Year of Italian Culture in the United States. The evening’s selections included the operatic classics “Libiamo” from “La Traviata” and “La donna e mobile” from “Rigoletto”. 

“We were fortunate to have a perfect night of great weather and a record turnout from the community so as to enjoy a spectacular concert given by the Queens Symphony Orchestra,” said Joseph Sciame, St. John’s University’s Vice President for Community Relations and Chair of its Italian Cultural Center. “St. John’s is grateful to many community members for making this night such a huge success. We were particularly pleased to have our benefactor members in the University’s Loughlin and McCallen Societies present to enjoy the event.”

Founded in 1953 and in its 60th season, the Queens Symphony Orchestra is Queens’ only professional orchestra and the oldest and largest professional arts organization in the borough. The Queens Symphony Orchestra is made up of professional musicians who also perform on Broadway, with the New York City Ballet, and other freelance orchestras. Famed Maestro Constantine Kitsopoulos, in his seventh season with the Orchestra, occupies a rare position in the orchestral world in that he is only the third Music Director in the 60-year history of the organization.

For more information about the Summer Concert, contact Paul Lazauskas, Associate Director of Community Relations at St. John’s University by calling 718-990-1941 or e-mail inquiries to [email protected]

Interested media representatives may contact Elizabeth Reilly, Director for Media Relations at St. John’s University by calling 718-990-5789 or e-mail inquiries to [email protected].