FOSTERIANA! World Premiere at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, 17 April 2010

Stephen Foster is a name we have come to know through his famous music.  Who have not heard of Camptown Races, Swanee River, and Oh Susanna?  As young children, we played, sang or heard his pieces in school and at home, and have never forgotten the simple, but striking melodies of his creations. 

Fosteriana is an homage to the genius of Foster.  And to add freshness to the titles, the piece is arranged by John August Pamintuan in a peculiarly cute fashion for an ensemble of equally cute children, containing only 6 notes from a whole tone scale.  Interspered with the ostinati are the melodies that spring forth with vitality like daisies (or rabbits!) in a prairie, because after all, Foster came from Lawrenceville Pennsylvania, and his music represents an almost forgotten Old America, where the deer and the antelope played.  But of course, that's another story...

the Pennsylvania Academy of Music