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OPA!
Commissioned by the North Hills High School Bands, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Len Lavelle, Director, in memory of Areta Kalogeras who was the North Hills Band Director from 1975 through 2008.
This work opens with an original Greek prayer setting and ends with a lively dance based on the Greek song "Karaguna." It starts out somber and dissonant with musical counterpoint full of many tension and release moments. The listener is then transported to a dance setting which start outs slowly featuring a lengthy alto saxophone solo. The music gradually increases in excitement and tempo ending in a frenetic explosion best described as a love of life the people of Greece continuously display in their food, reveling and music.
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