Come join the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra as we open the 2025-2026 season with an inspirational program of symphonic music highlighting two great composers of the 19th century. 

The Geneseo Symphony Orchestra

 with conductor Dr. Gerard Floriano, presents

Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 - "Reformation Symphony"

and

Giuseppe Verdi's Overture to "I Vespri Siciliani"

Sunday, October 5th 2025 at 3pm

at Wadsworth Auditorium 

Admission is free and all are welcome!

The program begins with one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most exhilarating and electrifying opera overtures, the Overture to “I Vespri Siciliani”.  While the opera itself has not stood the test of time particularly well (following a promising premier in 1855 the opera’s early success did not last) the overture has maintained its acclaim as a stirring concert mainstay in the orchestral repertoire,  managing to distill human depth and drama in a compact form that never loses its energy. 

Felix Mendelssohn earned great acclaim for his sacred oratorios St. Paul and Elijah, but these works were preceded by a musical testament to faith that relied on the orchestra alone, without voices. In 1829, when he was only 20, the precocious composer undertook the project of writing a symphony to pay tribute to the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, a milestone in the Protestant Reformation spearheaded by Martin Luther. It was also in that year that Mendelssohn famously rekindled widespread interest in the legacy of the devotedly Lutheran composer J.S. Bach by presenting a powerful revival of his St. Matthew Passion.

 Intending to have the new work in place in time for the actual anniversary celebrations being held in Berlin June 1830, Mendelssohn became ill with measles. Progress on the “Reformation” Symphony – a name later bestowed by the composer’s sister Fanny – was delayed, and the public had to wait more than two years before it could be premiered.