The world renowned and highly esteemed New York Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing for hundreds of classical music lovers in Van Cortlandt Park for several years now, an annual event facilitated by the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. This year’s concert held on June 5 was no exception.

 

The annual, open-air summer concert makes for such an entertaining evening, complete with atmospheric lighting, a beautiful stage design, and a lively, post-concert fireworks display that some attendees who travel from outside the borough to attend want to keep it a secret!

 

Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, the one-and-three-quarter-hour concert, which had a distinct Latin influence at times, was conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and included one intermission. Arturo Sandoval was the trumpet soloist and Jorge Glem the cuatro (string) soloist. Both were performing as part of a New York Philharmonic debut, while former New York Yankee, now a musician, composer, and philanthropist, Bernie Williams, from Puerto Rico, was a special guest on guitar.

 

The delightful program included “Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36” by Tchaikovsky, “Odisea: Concerto for Venezuelan Cuatro and Orchestra” by Gonzalo Grau, “Selections from The Firebird Suite” by Stravinsky, and “Allegro maestoso, from Concerto for Trumpet No. 2” by Arturo Sandoval.

 

Despite being in the throes of her [ultimately successful] reelection campaign, ever-present Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson was spotted backstage at one point, while hundreds of attendees of all different ages spread out and relaxed on rugs or deck chairs across the park, some in a specially cordoned off VIP area in front of the stage. We spoke to some of the attendees and asked for their reaction to the performances.

“I’m enjoying it very much, yeah,” said Nada Selimovic, explaining that her name, Nada, means “Hope.” Asked if she attended every year, she said, “Every year, every year! I live just across the street on Bailey Avenue and it’s a beautiful, beautiful park; I love it! This is one of the best things I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve been coming to this concert at least for 15 years.”

 

Selimovic continued, “It’s amazing, It’s amazing! I listened to a concert that Dudamel conducted a long time ago at Carnegie Hall but this… it was just so close! That’s so wonderful!” Asked if she attended concerts by the Philharmonic regularly, she said she did. “I would also travel to Central Park,” she said, laughing.

 

“That was actually my first one on Upper East Side a long time ago, but you know it’s a privilege to live across from such a beautiful park that can give citizens of this area, at least, such a wonderful time for free!” She said she was really excited, found Dudamel to be “so funny” and added that she enjoyed seeing him conduct up close.

 

Sergio, another attendee, from Columbia who lives in Little Italy (The Bronx) was asked if he had attended the concert last year and he said he had come two years ago. “Yeah, it was great,” he said. “We came as a group of ‘explant’ [international] students from the Botanical Garden.” He said he had been there as part of a PhD program. “I look forward to coming back [to Van Cortlandt Park] in the next years,” he said.

 

We also asked Sergio if he was a regular patron of the Philharmonic. He said only for the summer concert series and added that he attended the Central Park summer concert last year but preferred The Bronx as a venue. “There’s a little bit more…. a higher chance to be closer to them,” he said.

Asked if there was anything that would add to the experience, he said, “As soon as we got here, we could hear a lot of noises but not the music so maybe speakers.” [Norwood News did observe some speakers placed throughout the park.] Sergio added, “It would be nice for the people all the way in the back to have a screen so they can see who is the director and what he’s doing.” He added that everyone seemed to come prepared with snacks and said there were portable bathrooms in the back [behind the stage].

 

We also spoke with Rob Biorgi and asked if he lived locally or if he had travelled to see the concert. “My girlfriend lives in The Bronx but I live in Jersey,” he said. “I knew they were coming up here to Van Cortlandt so I wanted to check it out. It’s great! I’ve never been here before!”

 

Asked if he was a regular Philharmonic concert attendee, he said both he and his girlfriend used to work as ushers at the Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall and as such, had seen the Philharmonic hundreds of times but not for many years. Asked if he felt there was anything that could be improved upon in terms of the organization of the Van Cortlandt Park event, he said during the intermission, food trucks would have been good (or drinks).

 

Later, we spoke to a mixed group, some of whom had come from Brooklyn and joined other friends in The Bronx. Amalia McNamara said, “This is a really special event for me because my cousin who passed away in June 2011, she was a violinist in the Philharmonic and so, it makes it extra special for me that this is held in June, and I hope they never stop.”

She added, “She was the first violinist at the Hartford Symphony,” and said her cousin’s name was Amanda Burr. Asked if there was anything that could enhance the experience, McNamara said, “In this park, no. I would have a lot of commentaries if I was sitting in Central Park lawn right now.” She talked about the noise and said there was no signage to instruct people to be silent.

 

“People also don’t know…they like clap all the time randomly when things even get quiet because they’re not listening,” she said. “You hear people clap between the movements which you’re not supposed to do but it’s ok. It’s not bad.”

 

Another member of the group was Michael Muñoz, a photographer, who said, “This has been so beautiful; this is my first time here. I’m feeling very inspired. We’re also artists, so always searching for new things to inspire us.”

 

Asked if any members of the group were musicians, Matthew Streepy from Cleveland, who lives in Brooklyn, said he played cello as a kid. Asked if it was difficult, laughing, he said, “I had trouble with it, yeah!”

Streepy said it was his first time attending the Van Cortlandt Park event. “Actually, every Fourth of July as a kid with my parents, we used to go and see the Cleveland Philharmonic in the park and then see the fireworks after, so this is kind of like a me version of that. Last time I went, I was about eight or nine, so this is my first time seeing some live orchestral stuff since then.”

 

Michael McNamara said the fireworks were lovely. Meanwhile, Amelia said she’d been coming to the event every year since 2008 and now lives in The Bronx. “We bike across the park from Woodlawn and set up and picnic,” she said. “We used to do the Central Park one but it’s loud! Everyone talks. This one’s lovely.” She added, “But don’t tell everyone about this one. We don’t want to let them know. Shhhh!!” Laughing, she added, “This one’s awful! Don’t come here! The Bronx is way too far. We need to keep it secret and quiet!”