BPO welcomes WNY Catholic schools to Kleinhans Music Hall

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra welcomes Western New York Catholic School third- through sixth-grade students to Kleinhans Music Hall for a youth concert performance titled "Let's Go Buffalo!". The event, led by BPO Associate Conductor Matthew Kraemer, begins at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14.

More than 1,250 students from 22 area Catholic schools will be in attendance, including:

Ambrose Catholic Academy, Annunciation, Catholic Academy of Niagara Falls, Christ the King School, Immaculate Conception School-East Aurora, Mary Queen of Angels, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School, Our Lady of Black Rock, Our Lady of Pompeii School, Our Lady of Victory, Southtowns Catholic School, SS Peter & Paul School- Hamburg, St. John the Baptist-Alden, St. John the Baptist-Kenmore, St. Joseph School-Gowanda, St. Joseph University School, St. Leo the Great School, St. Margaret School, St. Mary of the Lake, St. Mary's Elementary, St. Mary's School-Swormville, St. Peters R.C. School and St. Stephen's.   

"Let's Go Buffalo!" explores some of the most interesting history of this region, including the Iroquois Nation's Native American presence in Western New York, and the creation of the Erie Canal, connecting the east with the west, right through Buffalo, by singing "Low Bridge, Everybody Down." The BPO will present "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" with a vocalist to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which saw rise to the Underground Railroad, which helped former slaves escape to Canada through Buffalo and the Niagara Falls region. Finally, to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the battles at Fort Niagara, the orchestra will play Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

This program is in alignment with New York State Education Standards. For more information about the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, visit www.bpo.org.

As Buffalo's cultural ambassador, the Grammy-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, under the leadership of music director JoAnn Falletta, presents more than 120 classics, pops and youth concerts each year and reaches more than 40,000 students (K-12) across all eight counties of Western New York. Since 1940, the orchestra's permanent home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, a National Historic Site with an international reputation as one of the finest concert halls in the U.S.