With the end of the winter season and spring underway, the Island Symphony Orchestra and the Seatuck Environmental Association came together to celebrate in a unique collaboration!

This past Saturday, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church was filled with concertgoers and art lovers alike. At 2 p.m., attendees made their way into the nave of the church, where they were treated to an orchestral performance by the Island Symphony Orchestra, featuring guest soloist Mindy Kaufman.

Piccolo and flutist Mindy Kaufman joined the New York Philharmonic in 1979 at the age of 22. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Bonita Boyd, Walfrid Kujala, and James Galway.

Kaufman has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of former music directors Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, and Lorin Maazel. Since September 2014, she has been teaching for the Shanghai Orchestra Academy. A sought-after commercial artist, Kaufman has performed on more than 45 film soundtracks.

The first piece was “Concertino for Flute and Orchestra,” composed by Cecile Chaminade.

According to the program notes, edited by Nathan Garfinkle, the work is in one-movement and rondo form. It begins with a broad statement from the orchestra, which leads into the flute entry.

A lyrical melody is built on a foundation of quick arpeggios and trills, and this decorative solo is the foundation of the whole work. More technical passages act as an interlude, which leads into the next sections.

Next, there is a central section, which is marked animato. This slightly more upbeat section uses techniques such as double tonguing and decorations, making the solo part much more difficult. The speed is part of what makes the work fiendishly tricky. An interlude from the orchestra leads into the next variation of the theme.

This leads to the very exciting cadenza, which requires keen dexterity from the soloist as well as a bold sound and range. The work’s final section is composed of a reprise of the opening melody. The fast scale runs are much more prominent in this final part of the concertino. An animated coda ends the work with an exciting passage of music.

The second piece was composed by conductor Eric. R. Stewart, which truly captured the overall theme of the spring concert. In the notes written by Stewart, he shares that this piece was conceived on a winter’s day in a calm, serene setting in Orchard Park, N.Y.

The first image he wanted to capture musically was the snow-covered landscape, which became the canvas for the sounds he heard. These sounds were of birds, with their songs resonating through the air.

The calls of chickadees and juncos were most prevalent during that particular afternoon, with some faint murmuring from mourning doves. The presence of the mourning dove, however, inspired him to create a melodic musical theme, as most of the other birds’ songs and calls were of a more inter-trajectory nature.

As he became increasingly fascinated with the idea of musically representing the songs with birds, he conferred with naturalist John Turner of the Seatuck Environmental Association.

Before the final piece, there was a brief intermission, during which many attendees took the opportunity to explore “The Beauty of Birds” art exhibit, which was displayed outside the nave.

As the exhibit name suggests, there were photos, drawings, and paintings of different types of birds. Just a few of the birds portrayed in these pieces were blue jays, cardinals, hummingbirds, swans, ostriches, robin eggs, and more.

The Great South Bay Audubon Society, whose primary mission is to advocate for the conservation of habitats for native birds and other native wildlife on Long Island, distributed pamphlets that shared information about the black-capped chickadee, the whip-poor-will, the mourning dove, the dark-eyed junco, and the piping plover, which played a role in Stewart’s piece.

After intermission, the Island Symphony Orchestra performed one last piece, Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony No.6 in D Major Op. 60.”

The program notes that the Sixth Symphony is a milestone in Dvorák’s artistic development. It is one of his finest achievements, the first of his symphonies to be published and become an international success. Despite some striking reminiscences of Beethoven and Brahms, the symphony speaks a language that is truly Dvorák’s own from beginning to end.

The Island Symphony Orchestra 2025 concert season is supported by Long Island Grants for the Arts through funds provided by the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by The Huntington Arts Council. 

The Beauty of Birds Art Exhibit Artists

• Jody Banaszak
• Jennifer Bartlett
• John Benstock
• Mary Bertschi
• Patt Bondy
• Lynne Bowden
• Lymarie Cintron-Wieber
• Bernice Corbin
• Steven D’Amato
• Lisa D’Elia
• Carolann-Bambara Demarest
• Melissa Feudi
• Andrew Giambertone
• Barbara Hirten
• Axana Holgram
• Harlan Lentini
• Lora Kendall
• Nancy Maia
• Meredith McCarthy
• Marisela McGrath
• Francis O’Brien
• Segundo Orellana
• Cindy Pacini
• Leslie Pilgrim
• Martha Pinnola
• Sue Rydzeski
• Teresa Ryther
• Todd Schumacher
• Delee Smith
• Steve Terr