Asheville Symphony’s 2017-18 Season Continues Mar. 17th

Asheville Symphony’s Masterworks Series continues March 17th with Masterworks 5: Reborn.

“This season is going to be absolutely off the charts,” says ASO Executive Director David Whitehill. “Not only is Daniel Meyer ending his tenure with the ASO with an incredible opening night and a massive New Year’s Eve celebration, but our six incredible finalists are bringing programs that will knock your socks off—including some of the most celebrated works in classical music along with brand new works and even a bit of rock ‘n’ roll. Audience members will have the opportunity to give feedback on each finalist after his or her performance, so we know they’ll be giving it their absolute best.”

All Masterworks concerts take place in Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in downtown Asheville.

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New on the schedule this season is a piano recital, which will be held on Saturday, February 17 at Central United Methodist Church in downtown Asheville. Pianist Alexandre Tharaud will perform Bach’s incomparable “Goldberg” Variations. His recording of this work was named among The New York Times’ “Best Classical Music Recordings of 2015.”

Series subscriptions and ticket packages are on sale now, and single tickets go on sale on Monday, August 28. Single tickets for all Masterworks concerts are $24–69, depending on seating section (reduced youth pricing is available). Tickets can be purchased online at ashevillesymphony.org, by phone at 828-254-7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.

Asheville Symphony 2017-2018 Masterworks

Masterworks 5: Reborn
Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Nicholas Hersh, conductor
Itamar Zorman, violin

This exploration of how the Romantic voice resonates in the 21st century begins with Beethoven who catapults listeners from the 18th century into the modern age in the fiery Leonore Overture. Rachmaninoff calls upon both his 19th-century Russian roots and a lush, 20th-century orchestral sound to create a sweeping, semi-autobiographical epic in his Second Symphony. And between these monoliths, a living voice of Romanticism: Jonathan Leshnoff, whose soulful Chamber Concerto is played by the inimitable Itamar Zorman. Zorman also lends his talents to conductor Nicholas Hersh’s arrangement of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”—not only a rock classic but a postmodern Romantic masterpiece.

Program:
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
Leshnoff: Chamber Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2015)
–Concerto encore–Queen/Hersh: “Bohemian Rhapsody” for Violin and Orchestra
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2

Masterworks 6: Patriots
Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Jayce Ogren, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano

The sound worlds of John Adams, Manuel de Falla and Jan Sibelius are rooted in different countries, time periods and influences, yet these works of all three deal with nationalism, and each uses rhythmic drive and vigor to communicate that theme. The Chairman Dances—a vignette from John Adams’ infamous opera Nixon in China—paints a bitingly comic picture of the Mao regime. Manuel de Falla’s rarely-performed masterpiece Nights in the Gardens of Spain is a loving, Impressionist portrait of his country’s beauty and fire. The program closes with Sibelius’ great Symphony No. 2, a poignant tribute to the people of his native Finland.

Program:
Adams: The Chairman Dances
Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Masterworks 7: Bend It
Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Jacomo Bairos, conductor
Jennifer Frautschi, violin

The final Masterworks concert of the 2017/2018 season is an eclectic program of genre-bending composers and works, beginning with the ultimate genre-bender, Bernstein, and his Overture to Candide. Next is Sam Hyken’s take on Vivaldi’s masterpiece The Four Seasons, which has influences of Jazz, ‘70s film noir, and even hip-hop while keeping one eye on the Baroque. Brahms’ reimagining of Hungarian Dances may be some of the first genre-bending music in the classical world, yet it is his deep symphonies, including Symphony No. 2, that stir the soul and transform the heart powerful ways.

Program:
Bernstein: Overture to Candide
Hyken: Four – A reimagining of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
Brahms: Symphony No. 2

Other Performances in 2017-2018

Piano Recital
Saturday, February 17, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Central United Methodist Church
Alexandre Tharaud, piano

Perhaps, pianist Charles Rosen describes Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations best: “It is the most open and public of Bach’s keyboard works, the one that most absorbs and transforms the popular styles of his time…The ‘Goldberg’ variations is a social work; it was meant principally to delight, and it instructs only as it charms.” The ASO is joined for a recital of this iconic work by one of France’s leading pianists, Alexandre Tharaud, whose 2015 recording of the “Goldberg” Variations was named one of “The Best Classical Music Recordings of 2015” by The New York Times.

Program:
Bach: “Goldberg” Variations, BWV 988

Asheville Symphony Chorus
Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
Arden Presbyterian Church
Dr. Michael Lancaster, conductor

Join in the celebration of Bach’s 333rd birthday as Dr. Michael Lancaster leads the more than 130 voices of the Asheville Symphony Chorus and members of the Asheville Symphony in Bach’s glorious Mass in B Minor. The massive opening Kyrie statement followed by the immense, solemn fugue launches audiences on one of the most epic of all journeys in music. This setting of the mass is unprecedented in its scale, majesty and sobriety.

Program:
Bach: Mass in B Minor, Part One: Kyrie & Gloria

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 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. Learn more at ashevillesymphony.org.