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Scott Speck, Music Director of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, West Shore Symphony, and Washington Ballet conducted the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania during a performance of American Pops music.

MOBILE, Ala. - Although British soldiers in the colonies were the first to sing it, today Yankee Doodle Dandy is firmly under American ‘control.’ It’s undoubtedly no accident that the Voice of America begins and ends every broadcast with the tune.

But popular American musical repertoire extends far beyond Yankee Doodle…as music lovers in Sibiu, Romania, deep in the heart of the Transylvania of Dracula-esque lore, just discovered. On June 28, American conductor Scott Speck, conducted the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of American Pops music for the finale celebration of the “American Friendship Festival.”

The program, says Speck, presented a menu of works – light American classics, Broadway show tunes and movie soundtracks – guaranteed to make the Romanian audience feel right at home in American culture.

In fact, Speck’s involvement with the American Friendship Festival grew out of his own friendship with one of the event’s organizers, Daniel Szasz.

“I met Daniel, who is concertmaster for the Alabama Symphony, a few years ago when I worked with the Alabama Symphony,” recalls Speck, who has served as Music Director of the increasingly acclaimed Mobile Symphony Orchestra in Mobile, Alabama since 2002.

While Transylvania is perhaps best known – at least in America – for a certain count with a proclivity for midnight hours and biting the necks of his victims, Sibiu has been named the “Cultural Capital of Europe” for 2007, to celebrate Romania’s entry into the European Union. Throughout the year, Sibiu is hosting an impressive array of arts events – music, dance, theater, and visual art – in its many concert halls, theaters, exhibition centers, museums, and churches. Events are even taking place in city streets and lofts.

As a conductor, Scott Speck is as multi-faceted and renowned as the city he is visiting. Back home in the United States, the Boston native is Music Director not only of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra but the West Shore Symphony Orchestra in Muskegon, Michigan and the Washington Ballet, in Washington DC, where the orchestra recently performed at the White House. Speck has also guest-conducted orchestras worldwide, from London and Paris to Beijing and Moscow.

“Scott Speck's sensuous and exciting interpretation embodied the essence of Tchaikovsky—and took the audience by storm,” said Pravda of the Moscow performance. “The sophisticated Moscow public, which has heard many masterful interpretations of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 1, was extremely generous with long and enthusiastic applause.”

Speck will return to Russia later this summer but, first, will return to the United States to celebrate Independence Day with the Mobile Symphony, when the orchestra presents a Fourth of July concert at the Wharf in Orange Beach.

“Yes, there will be fireworks,” laughs Speck. “But just wait till the Mobile Bay community sees the musical fireworks we have in store for them next season!”

For more information about the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, its performances and educational outreach programs, visit the orchestra’s website at www.mobilesymphony.org. To purchase tickets, call 251-432-7070 or order online.

The Mobile Symphony Orchestra, under Music Director Scott Speck, is the premiere producer of live symphonic music in the Gulf Coast region. It is committed to enhancing the lives of every member of the community by achieving the highest standards in live symphonic music and music education.