Philadelphia Classical Symphony features a world premiere of Philadelphia composer Maurice Wright's Wissahickon Scenes with guest violin soloist Hirono Oka in its third annual American Mosaics concert focusing on America's musical heritage.  The composition based on Lenape songs will be performed on Tuesday, May 18 at Delaware County Community College and at 8:00PM on Friday, May 21 at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Rittenhouse Square.

Wissahickon Scenes is based on songs of the Lenape Indians who populated the eastern seaboard from southern New York to Delaware and west to the Lehigh Valley through the 18^thCentury.  Karl Middleman, PCS ArtisticDirector, found the songs, recorded in 1928, in the audio archives of the American Philosophical Society.  "The wax cylinder recording system contributed significant surface noise - a constant grinding sound plus a rhythmic pinging sound," said Wright, the Laura H.Carnell Professor of Music Composition at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance.  "I used computer sound processing techniques to produce altered recordings.  A short snippet of the recording can beheard in the final movement of Wissahickon Scenes."

Wright transcribed five songs he used as the basis for the concerto for violin, string orchestra and harp. Three movements depict three periods in Lenape history - Lenape Dances, for a time in the 18^th Century when the Lenape flourished; Trail of Tears, for the exodus of the Lenape; and The Invisible People, suggesting the Lenape situation in the present day.

"The remnants of the Lenape culture are obscured by the colonial culture that usurped it," Wright observed. "This is similar to the way the surface noise of the Dictaphone recordings obscured the music within."

Also featured in the concert is music by two-time Grammy winner and one of country music's favorite musicians, Mark O'Connor.  O'Connor is well known for his compositions blending classical, jazz and country fiddling. His 1996 album Appalachia Waltz featured O'Connor playing with violin virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma.  He was named the Country Music Award's Musician of the Year six times in a row.

"Classical composers of all eras have often woven folk tunes into classical composition," said Karl Middleman, PCS' Artistic Director.  "O'Connor's vibrant music follows along tradition with composers as diverse as Gershwin, Dvorak, Brahms and Bartok."

Jason Depue, violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and a member of the popular local bluegrass group "Time for 3" will be perform as guest soloist on O'Connor's Strings and Threads.

The program is rounded out with compositions by 18^th Century American composer Johann Freidrich Peter, one of the first American classical composers, and early 20^th Century composer David Diamond, who was considered one of the pre-eminent composers of his generation. 

Founded in 1993 by Karl Middleman, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony is a 20-member professional chamber orchestra committed to making concert-going exciting againby discovering new interactive ways to tell the history of music to today's audiences.  This program has been funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project.