[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 83 (Friday, May 30, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E885-E886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NOVA-ANNANDALE SYMPHONY 
                               ORCHESTRA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 30, 2014

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 20th anniversary 
of the NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra was originally 
formed in 1994 as a collaborative arrangement between the Northern 
Virginia Community College (NOVA) Annandale Campus and the Reunion 
Music Society. Led by award-winning Music Director Christopher Johnston 
since 1996, the NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra has performed a wide 
range of music embracing different cultures and heritages and is the 
``Orchestra-in-Residence'' at the Richard J. Ernst Community Cultural 
Center on the Northern Virginia Community College's Annandale Campus.
   Over the years, the orchestra has grown in size, repertoire, and 
prominence in the greater Northern Virginia community. The Orchestra is 
composed of members of the community, as well as NOVA students for whom 
the ensemble is a laboratory for the orchestral repertoire. The 
Orchestra performs a wide variety of music from around the world, 
demonstrating its versatility and its goals of presenting compositions 
of little-known composers and offering programs of seldom-heard music 
representing a range of cultures.
   Throughout its two decade history, the orchestra has performed on 
and off campus, premiered numerous works, created scholarships, 
provided opportunities for young soloists, and generated unique multi-
cultural events designed to reach diverse audiences. It is most unusual 
for a community college to maintain a full symphony orchestra, and the 
orchestra's quality and enduring place in the Northern Virginia 
community are now widely recognized.
   At the orchestra's anniversary concert this year, the symphony 
orchestra will perform a concert entitled ``Scotland and the Sea.'' 
Included in the program is the debut of a symphonic work by students of 
the Fairfax Academy for Communications and the Arts.
   Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the 
NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of its 20th 
Anniversary and in thanking the musicians, volunteers and supporters 
for their efforts to preserve and enrich the music and culture of 
Northern Virginia.

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