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The Hemingway Orchestral Suite perrformed by the Charlotte Civic Orchestra

Dr. Geoffrey Whitehead, conductor of the Charlotte Civic Orchestra, with Bill Lorraine, composer of the 15-movement Hemingway Orchestral Suite, at the premier performance in Charlotte, North Carolina.

To order a CD click here or to download Hi Bit Rate MP3s go here

“This music is a tribute to Key West’s greatest artist, Ernest Hemingway. It is a musical reflection on his novels, short stories and his personal life.”
Bill Lorraine, composer

Part 1 - Big Two-Hearted River
Part 2 - Across the River and Into the Trees
Part 3 - A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Part 4 - Death in the Afternoon
Part 5 - The Sun Also Rises
Part 6 - To Have and Have Not
Part 7 - The Old Man and the Sea
Part 8 - Islands in the Stream
Part 9 - For Whom the Bell Tolls
Part 10 - A Farewell to Arms
Part 11 - The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Part 12 - The Garden of Eden
Part 13 - A Movable Feast
Part 14 - The Torrents of Spring
Part 15 - The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Charlotte Civic Orchestra Dr. Geoffrey Whitehead, Conductor

Kyle Carinelli: Flute
Claudia Devereaux: Oboe
Brenda Casciani : Oboe
Michael Adams: Clarinet
Jennifer Starnes: Bassoon
David Wallace: Bassoon
Bill Tyler: French Horn
Jamie Dickens: Trumpet
Ken Edmonds: Trumpet
Larry Farr: Trombone
Torrance Banks: Trombone
Jerry Smalls: Tuba
Patrick McGinty: Percussion
Anna Brock: Piano
Julie Johnson: Concertmaster
Robert Grier: 1st Violin
Sai Harley: 1st Violin
Jason Howell: 1st Violin
Catie Jackson: 1st Violin
Christine Kuzina: 1st Violin
Anna Marie Mantey: 2nd Violin
Donna Hildreth: 2nd Violin
Jill Chen: 2nd Violin
Martha Player: 2nd Violin
Eddie Mason: Viola
Heather Geiser: Viola
Amanda Saari: Viola
Victoria McLaughlin: Cello
Art Bolz :Cello
Gwen McClellan: Cello
Thomas Evan: Cello
Tamara Friedlander: Cello
Henry Trexler: Bass

Bill Lorraine's new 15 movement Hemingway Orchestral Suite performed by the CharlotteCivic OPrchestra in Charlotte, North Carolina. Click here to listen to the complete Hemingway Orchestral Suite

Bill Lorraine

My home town of Key West is a lot like every other American town of 30,000 population. The differences begin with the palm trees, the unusual abundance of flowers, and the tropical weather. But the biggest difference is the boundry line that forms a circle around the outskirts of our city. Most Americans can hop in their cars and drive into the country, but the ocean surrounds Key West, and the town takes up all the land area. Only a thin string of sandbars and mangrove islands connect it to the mainland 160 miles away.

Before Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad to Key West in 1912, the only way to get to the island was by boat. So the history of Key West is the history of people who had a strong connection to the ocean. Books on Key West's history talk about the wreckers, the spongers, the pirates, the Navy, the shrimpers and the boatbuilders. Many of the first residents were ship's carpenters who built their homes with highly elevated vantage points call "widow's walks" which gave them an unobstructed view of the ocean. In their travels they brought back exotic tropical plant life from all parts of the world - flowering trees, orchids, coconut palms, mahogany, Queen's umbrella trees, and flowers that bloomed all year long like Hibiscus and Bougainvilla.

Key West is located beside a natural coral reef that breaks the ocean's waves six miles out, giving Key Westers calm beaches and crystal-clear water at the shoreline.