Main St. Chamber Orchestra Will Perform Beethovens 5th and STAR WARS

Presenting two works written centuries apart, the Main Street Chamber Orchestra with 54 professional musicians will perform Beethoven's masterful Fifth Symphony and music from John Williams' legendary Star Wars Suite for Orchestra. This performance will be held Saturday, April 11, at 4 p.m. at the Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville VA. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Williams' Star Wars score share famously bold, instantly recognizable melodies — and both live in space. 

While the Star Wars franchise takes place in a fictional intergalactic setting, a recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was launched into space in 1977 as part of NASA's search for intelligent life through the launching of Voyager 1 and 2. They left our solar system in 2013 and are still broadcasting in deep space. The Fifth Symphony is also known as the “Fate Symphony,” alluding to Beethoven's eventual descent into complete deafness. As George Lucas would have likely said to Beethoven as his hearing waned, “May the Force by with you.” Audience members are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Star Wars character. Johnson-Williams Middle School is located at 200 Swan Ave., Berryville, Va. 

Jon Goldberg is the Music Director and Conductor of the orchestra, a professional ensemble based in Berryville. “Both of these masterpieces have influenced popular culture and composition, not only in their times, but ever since their debuts,” Goldberg said. “I feel they share an important message. The most famous line from Star Wars is ‘May the force be with you,' and Beethoven's Fifth describes what that force is: the indomitable spirit of humankind.”

The Star Wars soundtrack was released in 1977 and sold more than a million copies in its first year. It became the best-selling symphonic album of all time, certified Gold and Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and won an Academy Award and a Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture. 

The year 1977 was a banner year: The same year, NASA launched space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to study our Solar System and interstellar space, and to potentially make contact with life in space. Voyager 1 contains a Golden Record with images, music, sounds, and greetings from Earth, including Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The selection was made by a committee led by renowned scientist Carl Sagan. 

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony brings an electric sense of drama to the program, opening with its iconic four‑note motif that has echoed through concert halls for more than two centuries. The work's journey from tension to triumphant resolution showcases Beethoven at his most inventive and emotionally charged, making it a perennial favorite for audiences and performers alike. 

“We want to fill the seats again this year for our annual full-symphony offering,” Goldberg added. “It's likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most people in the northern Valley to hear this amazing music together on a single program.”

Goldberg founded the Main Street Chamber Orchestra in Berryville in 2020, and its performances have regularly won standing ovations. A fully professional orchestra, the MSCO is a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization. It offers three or four performances a year, including a free family concert to encourage young people to learn about classical music. Past performances include Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, Handel's Messiah Part I, Mozart's Violin Concerto #5, and Mozart's Piano Concerto #20, featuring concert pianist Brian Ganz.