July 25, 2011
You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night.
A cool breeze sweeping across campus kept temperatures comfortably
warm as the Queens Symphony Orchestra delighted alumni, friends and
members of the community at the 13th Annual Summer Concert.
Photo Gallery
“The weather is ideal,” said Joseph Sciame ’71Ed, Vice President of
Community Relations. “Most importantly, we need heritage and
culture, especially here in Queens. We’ve got such a great
community and this is one of the only free concerts in the borough.
So we’re excited for the event and the guests are really enjoying
themselves.”
Sponsored
by Con Edison and Coca-Cola, the 13th Annual Summer Concert once
again featured the Queens Symphony Orchestra and was free to the
public. Led by Music Director Constantine Kitsopoulos, the
orchestra played famous operatic songs such as Giacomo Puccini’s
“Quando m’en vo” from La Boheme and Georges Bizet’s “Toreador Song”
from Carmen.
“Last year we had salsa music,” Sciame explained, “and this year
we’re featuring opera. A little bit of culture doesn’t hurt, and
I’m glad that our alumni, friends and extended Queens community can
take advantage of this.”
Carol Conslato, the Director of Public Affairs for Con Edison and
the President of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, served as Guest
Conductor during a performance of John Philip Sousa’s “Liberty Bell
March.”
“This is a wonderful event for the community and, as a corporate
sponsor, I’ve been supporting this concert for years,” she said.
“It engages the community and it’s truly a wonderful benefit for
everyone to be able to experience the music of the Queens Symphony
Orchestra. It’s also great for people to come onto campus and see
what’s going on here at St. John’s.”
Prior to
the concert, alumni and friends gathered for a barbeque in Newman
Courtyard.
For Regina Contrino ’70Ed, it was a perfect opportunity to catch up
with friends and enjoy a good meal before camping out on the Great
Lawn. A former member of the University Glee Club, she met a group
of her friends at the barbeque and was reminiscing about her
student days.
“There’s just something special about St. John’s,” she said. “The
friendships we formed back then in the late ‘60s have remained.
Even when we were students, we recognized that those years were
special and that we’d look back on them fondly. Those ties have
continued to bring us together.”
Other alumni used the summer concert as a way to show off the
campus to their families. Clifford Rice ’86C, ’94MBA brought his
fiancé and her son.
“I always felt very comfortable at St. John’s, since they’re a very
accommodating place and very family-oriented,” he said. “I’ve been
getting more involved with the University as of late, and events
like this that bring me back to campus are a blast.”