South Shore Symphony in concert Saturday

The South Shore Symphony, under the musical direction of Scott Jackson Wiley and guest conductor Alex Guzman,above, will perform at South Side Middle School on Hillside Avenue this Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. The 65-member orchestra will play Mendelssohn’s “Italian Symphony,” R. Strauss’s “Four Last Songs” and Wagner’s “Overture to Dei Meistersinger” and will feature soprano Michelle Pretto, also above.

Pretto possesses a voice of remarkable power and beauty. She has been a star performer at the Shaker Mountain Performing Arts Festival in Pittsfield, Mass. Among other achievements, her voice and musicianship were featured in a film, "Slingshot," starring Juliana Margulies and David Arquette.

In a career spanning 36 years, Maestro Guzman has gained wide acclaim as a conductor of the symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire with many New York-based orchestras and opera companies. He has recently stepped down, after 26 years,as music director of the Regina Opera to devote more time to his first love, symphonic repertoire. He is the music director of the Bronx Symphonic Orchestra, the Rockaway – Five Towns Symphony Orchestra and the Staten Island Philharmonic. This performance marks his debut as a guest conductor with the prestigious South Shore Symphony.

First organized in 1983, the South Shore Symphony has grown to include professional and gifted high school musicians in addition to dedicated amateur players. The orchestra regularly performs in the Cathedral of St. Agnes, at Rockville Centre’s Mill River/Centennial Park for the village’s anniversary celebration and last summer at the Nassau County Museum of Art. Each year in December, the symphony collaborates with Leggz Ltd. Dance in the only full-length production on Long Island of Tchaikovsky’s "Nutcracker Suite" at South Side High School.

The cost for admission to the concert this Saturday is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and guild members.Admission for children under 18 is free. For tickets or more information, call the Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts at (516) 616-3610.