SEASIDE – As part of Columbia River Symphony’s ongoing commitment to community outreach, the symphony will perform a free community concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, at Seaside’s North Coast Family Fellowship, 2245 N. Wahanna Road.

Conductor Cory Pederson will lead the program, which includes selections from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” Robert W. Smith’s “The Isle of Calypso,” Barry Milner’s “An Unending Legacy,” along with “Russian Sailors’ Dance,” “The Tempest,” “Columbia River Suite” and “Scenes From the Old West.”

“The Isle of Calypso” is the third movement from Smith’s Symphony No. 2 “The Odyssey,” which brings to the listener an incredible series of adventures and torments as seen through the eyes of Odysseus, King of Ithaca. The heart-wrenching solo is performed by Angela Pederson-Calvin, string specialist of the Astoria School District.

The Columbia River Symphony provides both performers and audiences inspired opportunities to play and enjoy great symphonic music. CRS is an all-volunteer nonprofit performing arts group, whose mission is to provide quality musical entertainment, to increase visibility of the musical talents of its performers, and to serve a leadership role in the community while promoting cultural enrichment and artistic and musical education to the benefit of all involved.

Cory Pederson has been the sole conductor of the Columbia River Symphony for the past year and a half. Angela Pederson-Calvin (Cory’s wife), and Cory were co-conductors of the symphony for almost three years prior to that time. Cory is the music teacher in the Jewell School District, where he teaches concert band, choir and general music. He is also the head instructor of brass/woodwinds and percussion at the Astoria Conservatory of Music, with the trumpet being his main instrument.

Prior experiences has had Cory working with ensembles in five different school settings and performances with multiple school and community groups over the last ten years. Previous symphony work had him performing with the Vancouver Symphony and the IWASH (Idaho Washington) Symphony. Currently, he performs with the North Coast Symphonic Band, the North Coast Big Band and the North Coast Chamber Players.

Angela Pederson-Calvin is the co-founder of the Columbia River Symphony and is the orchestra string specialist for the Astoria School District where she teaches strings and general music. Currently, Angela is the concert master for the North Oregon Coast Symphony (violin being her main instrument), and performs with the North Coast Chamber Players. She is also one of two string specialists teaching at the Astoria Conservatory of Music.

For more information, visit www.columbiariversymphony.org