CONCERT WITH AN AUTUMN THEME: Ruth Ochs conducts the Westminster Community Orchestra on October 23 in the Robert L. Annis Playhouse.

The Westminster Community Orchestra, conducted by Ruth Ochs, will perform on Sunday, October 23 at 3 p.m. in the Robert L. Annis Playhouse on the Westminster Choir College Campus of Rider University in Princeton. A suggested donation of $10/person will be accepted at the door.

The autumnally-themed program will feature the world premiere of Kathleen Scheide’s Concertino for Autumn featuring The Guitars of Westminster Conservatory, Mark Johnstone, director. The concert will also include Emilie Mayer’s Faust Overture, Mikhail Glinka’s Kamarinskaya, movements from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”), and Richard Rodgers’ The Sound of Music (Selection for Orchestra), arranged by Robert Russell Bennett.

Scheide is a composer, teacher, organist, and early keyboard soloist who has performed throughout the world. The Westminster Community Orchestra previously premiered her Echo for guitars and orchestra, also featuring Mark Johnstone and The Guitars of Westminster Conservatory. Johnstone has over 30 years of teaching and performing experience. He directs The Guitars of Westminster Conservatory, which offers classical guitarists the opportunity to play and perform a variety of music from the Renaissance to the 21st century.

Now in her 18th season as conductor and music director of the Westminster Community Orchestra, Ochs has led the orchestra in performances of major orchestral and choral-orchestral works, including symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. Under her leadership, the orchestra continues to feature ensembles and soloists from the Westminster Conservatory and highlight works by local and under-represented composers.

Members of the Westminster Community Orchestra are professional and gifted amateur musicians, from all walks of life, who come from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Visit rider.edu/about/events/sound-of-autumn for more information.