60 Piece Orchestra Celebrates Italian American Music and Tribute To Veterans This Month

The Richmond County Orchestra celebrates its 24th anniversary season on Sunday, May 15, at 3 p.m. at St. John's University's Staten Island Campus Center Gymnasium, 300 Howard Avenue, Staten Island. Concerto di Primavera features Italian-American music with Ervin Dede, violin soloist, Soprano Holly Flack, and Tenor Arthur Lai and guest performers Al Lambert and Tatiana Santos Mroczek accompanied by the Richmond County Orchestra's 60-piece orchestra directed by Maestro Alan Aurelia. Both Flack and Lai have performed together at Lincoln Center. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, free for students and children. Purchase tickets at: https://www.musae.me/roc/experiences/1297/concerto-di or contact the orchestra office at 718-876-7945.

With a nod to Memorial Day, Concerto di Primavera includes a tribute to veterans. The concert begins with the Thomas Tori Memorial Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America presentation of the colors followed by Miss Staten Island Tatiana Santos Mroczek singing the National Anthem.

Singer and Musician Al Lambert will present about his cousin Father Vincent Capodanno's heroism and he will also be a featured singer.

In addition to enjoying music by Verdi, Puccini, Vivaldi, John Williams, Leroy Anderson and Sousa performed by the Richmond County Orchestra, who has played Carnegie Hall with Maestro Alan Aurelia and the featured singers, a presentation by Italian-American historian William Russo and artwork revealed by artist William Castello complete the lineup.

Featured performers:

Ervin Dede started his violin studies at the age of 6 at the music school Onufri, in Albania. Upon completion of his studies there he moved to Italy where he continued the study of violin at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, where he was awarded a full scholarship. He graduated with maximum votes. Among his achievements are a special prize won at the Rodolph Lipizer Violin Competition in Gorizia, Italy, different prizes awarded to him by the school. Currently he is a freelance musician in NYC as well as a member of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.

Holly Flack is a coloratura soprano with a unique range and stratospheric vocal extension, praised as an "explosive talent" for her warm, flowing middle voice, rippling coloratura and effortless trills. Her recent engagements include the title role in Semele, Gilda in Rigoletto, Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, and the title role in Dinorah for which she received a "Star-Making Performance" award from Mr. Fred Plotkin in his Seventh Annual "Freddie" Awards for Excellence in Opera. Ms. Flack has traveled multiple times to China for concerts in different cities around the country, and has also performed on CCTV. In 2022, she singularly represented the USA singing in a national promotional video for the Beijing Winter Olympics. In 2021, she performed the highest note ever sung at Lincoln Center, a B natural above high C6, in the concert "East/West: A Symphonic Celebration" at David H. Koch Theater. Ms. Flack is originally from Portland, Oregon.

Arthur Lai is a lyric tenor and he has performed as a soloist at George Weston Recital Hall in Toronto, David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium, Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis and the Music Center at Strathmore in Maryland, Irvine Auditorium in Philadelphia, Woolsey Hall and Welte Auditorium in Connecticut and in U.S. Capitol Hill Auditorium, Washington DC. He also performed at United Nations, Columbia University, Skirball Center for Performing Arts of New York University, the Annual Italian Heritage Day of Columbia Association of U.S Customs, the "Opera Night" Concert on Long Island (featured in New York Times), "Chinese American Night" on Long Island, "Order Sons of Italy in America", the "Marco Polo Day" in New York City. and WPIX Channel 11 "Morning News", Garden City Historical Society, Long Island, New York Mets Game at Citifield Stadium, Lower East Side Festival in NYC and Memorial Day Festival of Teaneck, NJ. San Gennaro's Festival, Little Italy, New York City, the Water Cube in Beijing.

An actor and a member of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Arthur Lai played "Asian businessman on ferry" in the feature movie "Trainwreck" in 2015 starred by Amy Schumer, "Chinese restaurant owner" in feature movie "Applesauce" in 2015, "Mr. Shen" in educational movie "Wall Street English" in 2016. He played "Father" in 4 different movies: "Visiting"; "Father"; "Interview" and "Crazy Chinese Father". He appeared as a "Chinese mafia boss" in NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in 2016.

Albert "Al" Lambert has a distinguished career that includes opening for an array of stars including Rodney Dangerfield, Pat Cooper and Chuck Mangione, just to name a few. He has also appeared at the original Copacabana, The Count Basie Theater and Carnegie Hall. As a philanthropist, he has generously given his time and talents to many charitable not for profit organizations, throughout his career he has raised over $2 million dollars in these benevolent pursuits.

Tatiana Santos Mroczek is a first-year student at Barnard College of Columbia University. Broadway (The Shubert Foundation): 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona); and Lucky Stiff (Annabel). Recent Regional Credits: Grease (Sandy); The Addams Family (Wednesday); and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Philia). Other notable venues include Fienstein's/54 Below, The Cutting Room, Don't Tell Mama, St. George Theater, and more. She is the only first year cast member- of the select 11 person cast- in the Varsity Show, Columbia University's oldest performing arts tradition. She is a member of Barnard College's only a cappella group, Bacchantae. Tatiana was Miss Richmond County's Outstanding Teen 2018 and is the current Miss Staten Island 2022. Special thanks to her family.