A soprano
straight from the Metropolitan Opera stage. Big orchestral works by Beethoven,
Verdi and Dvorak. A top-selling cellist and recording artist. One of the
world’s best interpreters of the great Frank Sinatra. The 2015-16 Asheville
Symphony season is sure to be one of its biggest in recent years.
“We are excited
to present a season that includes top-notch solo musicians with international
careers and Masterworks performances that require some of the biggest
orchestras in the classical repertoire,” said ASO Executive Director David
Whitehill. “It’s an opportunity to really show off the Asheville Symphony at
its best.”
All seven Masterworks
concerts begin at 8 p.m. and are held at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in the U.S.
Cellular Center. ASO Music Director and Conductor Daniel Meyer will lead the
orchestra.
The Masterworks
season will open Saturday, Sept. 19 when the Asheville Symphony introduces the
brilliant American soprano Angela Brown as a special guest. Known for her sumptuous voice, Brown will
perform some of her signature roles, including beloved arias by Puccini and
Verdi and favorites from Gershwin’s Porgy
and Bess and Bernstein’s West Side
Story.
“We know
this program will be a highlight of the season and a concert that music fans
will truly savor,” Whitehill said. “Angela received incredible praise and
reviews for her Metropolitan Opera debut as Aida, so it’s thrilling to think
we’ll have an opportunity to perform some of those same arias here in
Asheville.”
On Saturday,
Oct. 17, the ASO welcomes David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra,
for a performance of Bruch’s virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 1. The orchestra
will open the concert with Osvaldo Golijov’s “Sidereus,” a hit overture written
by one of classical music’s hottest composers, and also perform Schumann’s
Second Symphony.
The ASO’s
Masterworks 3 concert on Saturday, Nov. 21, features a season highlight. The
orchestra will perform Holst’s The
Planets, an orchestral suite that explores the cosmos and the astrology of
our own solar system and requires a massive orchestra. Haydn’s Sinfonia
concertante, which is also on the program, highlights the members of the
orchestra including concertmaster Jason Posnock, principal oboe Alicia Chapman,
acting principal cello Franklin Keel, and principal bassoon Michael Burns for
solos while the musicians of the ASO provide the charm and zest that makes
Haydn’s music so joyous.
The
Masterworks season continues on Saturday, Feb. 13, as rising star Stefan Jackiw
makes his Asheville debut with Beethoven’s bold and brilliant Violin Concerto.
Two other works on the program are Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, which captures the composer’s visit to and
impressions of Scotland, and Strauss’ Metamorphosen,
an elegiac and deeply stirring work for twenty-three solo musicians.
Selections
from Berlioz’s scintillating Romeo and
Juliet and Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 12 will highlight
Masterworks 5 on Saturday, March 12. Another season highlight headlines Masterworks
6 on Saturday, April 16, when the Asheville Symphony Chorus and a quartet of
rising operatic stars will join the ASO for Verdi’s Requiem. This powerhouse
work features soaring, memorable melodies, bone-crushing sonics, and an
indelibly Romantic spirit.
Cellist
Zuill Bailey, one of the top-selling classical artists in the U.S., will close
out the Masterworks season on Saturday, May 14 with his performance of an ASO
co-commission, Daughtery’s Tales of
Hemingway. A musical look at the fascinating life of the great American
author, this new cello concerto will most certainly display Bailey’s superb
technique and his innate flair for the dramatic. The ASO will finish the season
with Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” a groundbreaking work that taps into America’s rich Native American and
African American culture by incorporating spiritual-tinged melodies, the “Song
of Hiawatha,” and an exuberant finale.
The ASO will
also offer two concerts outside of the Masterworks season. As a holiday treat,
singer Steve Lippia will star in “Simply Sinatra Christmas” featuring Christmas
favorites and iconic Sinatra numbers. The concert is scheduled for Friday, Dec.
11 – the day before the 100th anniversary of Sinatra’s birth.
The
Asheville Symphony Chorus will present “American Folk Songs: Sacred and
Secular,” on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Single tickets
for all concerts start at $22 for adults and $11 for youth. Single tickets and
season ticket packages can be purchased at www.ashevillesymphony.org, by
calling 828-254-7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87
Haywood Street.
The
Asheville Symphony Orchestra performs and promotes symphonic music for the
benefit, enjoyment and education of the people of Western North Carolina. The
ASO presents Masterworks, Holiday, and Young People’s Concerts in the Thomas
Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville’s U.S. Cellular Center. Related organizations
include the Asheville Symphony Guild, Asheville Symphony Chorus, Asheville
Symphonettes, and education initiatives such as the Asheville Buncombe Youth
Orchestra, Music in the Schools, MusicWorks!, Spotlight on Young Musicians,
Symphony Talk and pre-concert lectures.
SEASON PROGRAM
(All Masterworks concerts held at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
with Daniel Meyer conducting)
Masterworks
1
OPENING
NIGHT
September
19, 2015 • 8 p.m.
Masterworks
2
BRUCH’S
VIOLIN CONCERTO
October 17,
2015 • 8 p.m.
Masterworks
3
THE PLANETS
November 21,
2015 • 8 p.m.
Masterworks
4
BEETHOVEN’S
VIOLIN CONCERTO
February 13,
2016 • 8 p.m.
Masterworks
5
ROMEO AND
JULIET
March 12,
2016 • 8 p.m.
Masterworks
6
VERDI’S
REQUIEM
April 16,
2016 • 8 p.m.
Masterworks
7
ZUILL BAILEY
RETURNS
May 16, 2016
• 8 p.m.
Asheville
Symphony Chorus
AMERICAN
FOLK SONGS SACRED AND SECULAR
November 7,
2015 • 7:30 p.m.
Arden
Presbyterian Church
Michael
Lancaster, Director
Steve Lippia
and the Asheville Symphony
SIMPLY
SINATRA CHRISTMAS
December 11,
2015 • 8 p.m.
Thomas Wolfe
Auditorium
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