Boston Symphony Orchestra coming to city

LYNN – A free Boston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Concert is music to Fine Arts Director Joseph Picano’s ears, and he is hoping it will be for local students and residents alike.”It’s a gift to the community,” Picano said.Picano said the unusual experience is a testament to the strong partnership his office has built with the BSO. His colleague Linda Drugan agreed the show is a real coup for the city. She said often the orchestra plays more affluent communities, but Lynn is lucky it has strong ties with the organization. Along with Lynn, the orchestra has also performed at high schools in Watertown, Cambridge, Milford, Roxbury and Dedham.”Only 10 communities get this,” said Picano. “And only two allow students to perform.”Students won’t be allowed to actually perform with the musicians, but the Lynn Public School Orchestra will open for the symphony orchestra, Picano explained.The orchestral program extends from fourth to 12th grade. Picano said it is the high school musicians who will open the BSO performance.The concert will take place Sunday, March 16 at Lynn Classical High School, 235 O’Callaghan Way. The “Artistic Exchange” performance by the student orchestra will kick off the event at 2:30 p.m. followed by the BSO Community Chamber Performance at 3 p.m. Violinists Lucia Lin and Tatiana Dimitriades along with Kazuko Matsusaka on viola and Jonathan Miller on cello will represent the BSO.It took a lot of paperwork to win a spot on the BSO’s roster, Picano said.”We had to submit a lot of our curriculum that had to be vetted,” he said.He said they also wanted to know things like how many strings teachers the system has. He noted that Lynn has three strings teachers, which is unusual for most districts. He praised Superintendent Catherine Latham for her support of the arts program, which allows him to do things like hire the three teachers.Latham called the concert an exciting event.The concert is free, but tickets still must be obtained. To reserve free tickets call 617-266-1200 or log onto bso.org.”This is a really big deal,” Picano said. “The BSO is coming all the way out here and it’s free.”