Ann Arbor Symphony - February MainStage
Music Director Earl Lee leads the orchestra in Jessie Montgomery’s jazz-infused Overture and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10—a portrait of anguish, agony, and all-too-brief triumph.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 | 8 PM | Michigan Theater (603 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104)
Pre-concert talk at 7 PM (sponsored by Exchange Capital Management)
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Earl Lee, conductor
Jessie Montgomery Overture
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 10
Tickets
Ann Arbor Symphony Season Opener 24/25
Friday, September 27, 2024 | 8 PM | Hill Auditorium (825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109)
Pre-concert talk at 7 PM
Yekwon Sunwoo, piano
Earl Lee, conductor
William Bolcom Ann Arbor Saturday
Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2
Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ”
Ann Arbor Symphony Opening Night
Pre-concert talk at 7 PM
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Earl Lee, conductor & music director
Joan Tower Made in America
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Violin Concerto
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”
For more information, visit A2SO.
The Berofskys & Beethoven
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 5 "Spring Sonata"
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 7
BEETHOVEN "Rondo" from Violin Concerto
Aaron Berofsky, violin
Charles Berofsky, piano
For more information, go to A2SO.
A2SO: Made in America
PROGRAM
TCHAIKOVSKY Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
TOWER Made In America
STRAVINSKY The Fairy’s Kiss
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto
Zlatomir Fung, cello
Laura Jackson, guest conductor
A2SO: Beethoven 9
7:00 p.m. pre-concert lecture
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor
with Jacqueline Echols, Freda Herseth, Scott Piper,
Stephen West, and UMS Choral Union
Shostakovich Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major
“I’ve sung this piece quite a bit in my career and cannot remember the first time I sang it, however, I do remember it was chosen in North Carolina as the piece to sing for 911 commemorations that year and I sang it in with Rodney Qynkoop and the Durham Chorale and Symphony at Duke Chapel I believe as a musical moment of healing. It was quite a powerful way to commemorate the occasion of sadness and loss in our country.”
“Shocking! A chorus and soloists in a finale? It’s just never done!” Ah, but Ludwig van Beethoven was a revolutionary. He didn’t let that stop him from composing what maybe the most glorious – and most downloaded and Spotified – piece of music ever written. Symphony No. 9 speaks to our higher ideas and a message of joy, sung by a finely matched quartet of soloists who you’ll long remember. It’s a perfect pairing with Shostakovich’s homage to Beethoven. Without chorus or soloists, Shostakovich fills his work with hidden messages that intrigue listeners even today.
For more information, go to A2SO.
A2SO: Scottish Fantasy
7:00 p.m. pre-concert lecture
Maxwell Davies An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise
with Timothy Michling, bagpipes
Bruch Scottish Fantasy with Aaron Berofsky, violin
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 in A minor “Scottish”
Combine your soft spot for all things Scotland with the dash provided by your A2SO, and you’ll have an evening of delights. Concertmaster Aaron Berofsky weaves his always elegant-silky sound, and Principal Oboe Timothy Michling trades in his beloved oboe for the fullness of bagpipes.
For more information, go to A2SO.
A2SO: Mozart Birthday Bash
Pre-concert lecture 7:00 pm
Mozart Requiem
Mozart’s farewell piece, the Requiem, summarizes his genius with heart-melting melodies.
with Louise Toppin, Sedona Libero, Charles Reid, Daniel Washington, Measure for Measure, Livingston County Women’s Chorus, and the Huron and Pioneer High School A Cappella Choirs
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major with Alon Goldstein, piano
Pianist Alon Goldstein returns by popular demand to play Mozart’s 9th piano concerto – Mozart’s first unequivocal masterpiece of the Classical period by 21-year-old Mozart, and pianist Alon Goldstein brings it to life.
For more information, go to A2SO.
A2SO: Mahler 9
Pre-concert lecture 7 pm
Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D major
Sublime. Deeply personal. Melodies that convey the love of Nature, pastoral calm, and stillness. And through it all, the ever-present heartbeat of the master composer, Gustav Mahler, prevails. A magnificent journey for your heart and soul.
For more information, go to A2SO.
A2SO: New World Symphony
Bolcom Ann Arbor Saturday, premiere of new commission
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with Aaron Diehl, piano
Gershwin “I Got Rhythm” Variations with Aaron Diehl, piano
Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor “From the New World”
with Michigan premiere of original visual choreography by Adrian Wyard
“I’m elated to have been invited to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and I Got Rhythm Variations as a part of the Ann Arbor Symphony’s 90th Anniversary season.”
With a joyous fanfare to the delights of a start of a new season of music-making, join us to celebrate the brand-new piece written just for this moment – Ann Arbor Saturday – by William Bolcom. And swing with not one, but two of George Gershwin’s masterful works performed by one of the hottest young pianists today, Aaron Diehl. Can there be a more beloved melody than the soulful English horn solo in Dvořák’s New World Symphony? Be the first in Michigan to experience the breathtaking grand tour of the Americas through Adrian Wyard’s visual film choreography to the New World Symphony.
For more information, go to A2SO.