Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Presents a Season of Masterworks

From the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra:

Alexandria, VA— Alexandria Symphony Orchestra opens its 73rd Season with a focus on musical masterworks, led by five renowned guest conductors. Each concert is anchored by a classical “popular” favorite loved by audiences from the symphonic canon.

The season opens on Saturday, October 1, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. with a pairing of the third symphonies of Beethoven and Sibelius led by guest conductor James E. Ross. Ross serves as professor and director of orchestral activities at the University of Maryland and associate director of the Juilliard conducting program. Ross chose the pairing as two works that talk to each other and discover their own power and destiny over the course of the performance. “Neither of these symphonies starts knowing exactly where it will end up,” says Ross. “They discover incredible paths and roadblocks and breakthroughs all along the way.” The symphonies are heralded by the short—but triumphant—Fanfare for the Common Man, showcasing the ASO’s brass section, students from the University of Maryland and Ross’ own affinity for brass as an accomplished horn player.

The ASO’s November 2016 performances highlight a powerful triumvirate of musical women: Maestra Kathleen Kelly, violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn and composer Missy Mazzoli. Kelly was the first woman (and first American) named Director of Musical Studies at the Vienna State Opera. Also an accomplished keyboardist, Kelly will play the harpsichord as she conducts with Pitcairn as soloist for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Famous for her brilliant technique and her legendary Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius, Pitcairn performed the Four Seasons on tour in Italy, the birthplace of the well-loved concerti. The program also features Violent, Violent Sea (2011) by “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart” Mazzoli, which she invites the audience to experience in her words, “a dense work with conflicting light and dark sides.”

On February 11 and 12, 2017 the ASO welcomes guest conductor Michael Rossi, a rising star in the orchestral world. Rossi will lead an all-Mozart concert with the exuberant Jupiter Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 20 and the Overture to the Magic Flute. In partnership with the Choral Arts Society of Washington, Scott Tucker conducts on April 1 and 2, 2017 including Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. The season culminates on May 20, 2017 with NSO at Wolf Trap conductor Emil de Cou and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) and Barber’s Violin Concerto.

All Saturday performances are at 8:00 PM at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center (NVCC Alexandria Campus); Sunday performances are at 3:00 PM at the George Washington Masonic Memorial. The ASO provides complimentary parking at both venues.

Subscriptions and single tickets for the ASO’s 73rd Season are now on sale. Adult tickets range $20-$80, $5 youth and $10 student with military, senior and group discounts available. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.alexsym.org or call 703-548-0885.

Beethoven: Eroica Symphony

James E. Ross, guest conductor

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3

COPLAND: Fanfare for the Common Man

SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3

Saturday, October 1, 2016 at 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall

Vivaldi: Four seasons

Kathleen Kelly, guest conductor

Elizabeth Pitcairn, violin

VIVALDI: Four Seasons

MAZZOLI: Violent, Violent Sea

WAGNER: Siegfried Idyll

Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall

Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 3:00 PM

George Washington Masonic Memorial

Mozart: Jupiter Symphony

Michael Rossi, guest conductor

MOZART: Symphony No. 41

MOZART: Overture from The Magic Flute

MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 20

Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall

Sunday, February 12, 2017 at 3:00 PM

George Washington Masonic Memorial

Haydn & Bernstein

Scott Tucker, guest conductor

With the Choral Arts Society of Washington

HAYDN: Lord Nelson Mass

BERNSTEIN: Chichester psalms

BRAHMS: Nänie

BRAHMS: Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn

Saturday, April 1, 2017 at 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall

Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 3:00 PM

George Washington Masonic Memorial

Dvořák: New World Symphony

Emil de Cou, guest conductor

DVOřák: Symphony No. 9

BARBER: Violin Concerto

Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall

Tickets: $20-$80 for adults. Student tickets $10 (with ID). Youth tickets $5 The mysterious "red violin" — the very instrument that is said to have inspired the Academy Award-winning 1998 film The Red Violin — will be played live on stage as... more(age 18 & under). Military, senior and group discounts available. Purchase online at www.alexsym.org or call 703-548-0885.

Free parking provided by the ASO. The Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center is accessible by Metro bus lines 7A, 7B, 7F, 7Y, 25A, 25C and 25E, as well as DASH bus line AT6. The George Washington Masonic Memorial is accessible by the Blue and Yellow metro line (King Street station), numerous Metro, Dash and Richmond Highway Express bus lines, and the King Street Trolley in Old Town, Alexandria.

Images via Alexandria Symphony Orchestra: James E. Ross, guest conductor; Kathleen Kelly, guest conductor; Elizabeth Pitcairn, violin; Michael Rossi, guest conductor; Scott Tucker, guest conductor; Emil de Cou, guest conductor; Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.