Speakeysie News Desk – February 23, 2023

ORCHESTRA WELCOMES GUEST ARTISTS INCLUDING PIANIST AWADAGIN PRATT, VIOLINIST AUGUSTIN HADELICH

SAXOPHONIST TIMOTHY MCALLISTER MAKES ASO DEBUT

Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann conducts ASO Chorus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion

SYMPHONY HALL LIVE PROGRAMMING INCLUDES SOLD OUT PERFORMANCES FROM LEGENDARY SINGER/SONGWRITERS EMMYLOU HARRIS AND NATALIE MERCHANT

Symphony Hall LIVE also brings in pop music sensation Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox and Star Trek’s William Shatner 

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Hall LIVE have a number of incredible performances planned for March and April. 

In March, in classical programming, the ASO opens the spring with pianist Awadagin Prattplaying a new composition from composer Jessie Montgomery called Rounds, Thursday and Saturday, March 2 and 4 at 8:00pm in Symphony Hall. Pratt, a musical prodigy who began his studies at University of Illinois at just 16 years old, was the first graduate of the Peabody Conservatory to receive diplomas in three performance areas – piano, violin, and conducting – and has performed at the White House for Presidents Clinton and Obama. 

Saxophonist Timothy McAllister takes Symphony Hall stage Thursday and Saturday, March 16 and 18 at 8:00pm, to play the U.S. premiere of a new saxophone concerto by Tyshawn Sorey, Adagio for Wadada Leo Smith. Former ASO Associate Conductor Stephen Mulligan returns to conduct a program that includes Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2. 

ASO Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann conducts an evening of Bach & Friends Thursday and Saturday, March 23 and 25, at 8:00 pm in Symphony Hall. The concert, presented by Cadence Bank, is prgrammed with various selections from Handel and Vivaldi, and of course, Bach.

Symphony Hall LIVE’s series of concerts kicks off the spring with An Evening with Emmylou Harris, Friday March 3 at 8:00pm in Symphony Hall. The 14-time Grammy Award winning Harris has a career spanning more than 40 years, has recorded more than 25 albums, and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. This performance is sold out. 

On Thursday, March 9 at 8:00pm, arguably one of the best Star Trek movies – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – screens in Symphony Hall, followed by an appearance from Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner. Shatner will share behind the scenes stories from his time on Star Trek and throughout his entire career. This performance is expected to sell out. 

Legendary blues musician Buddy Guy hits Symphony Hall stage on Friday, March 17 at 8:00pm, touring with his seventh #1 album, The Blues Don’t Lie. At just 86 years old, the eight-time Grammy Award winning blues icon bids adieu to extensive touring on his Damn Right Farewell Tour. The event is sold out. 

On Sunday, March 5 at 3:00pm, families will love the ASO’s Symphony Safari, a concert for all ages featuring music from John Williams’s soundtracks like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Jurassic Park, plus popular classical pieces like Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Debussy’s La Mer. There’s always fun to be had at an ASO Family Concert. This event is sold out. 

Friday, March 10 at 7:30pm, Saturday, March 11 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, March 12 at 3:00pm, the magic of Harry Potter flies into Symphony Hall, as the ASO presents Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ in Concert with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Part of the Movies in Concert series, the film will be shown with the score played live by the ASO. All three performances are sold out. 

And the talented members of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra perform their second concert of the season, Crescendo, on Saturday, March 25 at 3:00pm in Symphony Hall. The performance features Alvin Singleton’s Across Differences, the Korngold Violin Concerto, and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.  

At the end of the month, March 30, Stutzmann begins three performances of Bach’s sacred oratorio, St. Matthew Passion, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. The work has become a hallmark of Stutzmann’s career, first as a contralto and now as a conductor. The concerts run Thursday, March 30 and Saturday, April 1 at 8:00pm, and Sunday, April 2 at 3:00pm, and feature soloists Camilla Tilling, soprano; Patricia Bardon, mezzo-soprano; Kenneth Tarver, tenor; Robin Tritschler, tenor; Leon Košavić, baritone; and Justin Austin, baritone. 

Later that month, on Thursday, April 13 and Saturday, April 15 at 8:00pm, Symphony Hall lights up with the fiery Berlioz Symphony fantastique, with guest conductor Stéphane Denève at the podium. Gifted violinist Augustin Hadelich returns to Atlanta to perform the Britten Violin Concerto that same evening. 

Maestro Stutzmann conducts Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 on Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21 at 8:00pm in Symphony Hall, with rising-star violinist Daniel Lozakovich playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concert. And on Thursday, April 27 and Saturday, April 29 at 8:00pm, guest conductor Nicholas Carter leads the ASO in a performance of the thrilling Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony, with soprano Nicole Cabell and baritone Lucas Meachem and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. 

Symphony Hall LIVE kicks off April with a performance from pop music’s Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Life in the Past Lane Tour on Saturday, April 8 at 7:30pm. Postmodern Jukebox is known for taking pop hits of today and remaking them into something that sounds like legends of yesterday. 

On Sunday, April 23 at 8:00pm, Ben Folds and a Piano with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra takes the stage to what will be a full house in Symphony Hall. Folds has performed with the ASO a number of times, taking his pop hits and creating lush orchestral versions that wow audiences across the world. The performance is almost sold out.

And on Sunday, April 30 at 7:00pm, Symphony Hall LIVE presents another iconic singer-songwriter with An Evening with Natalie Merchant: Keep Your Courage Tour with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This concert evening is sold out. 

About the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is in its 78th season with Nathalie Stutzmann as only the fifth Music Director in the history of the Orchestra, and the only woman to ever hold the position. Maestro Stutzmann will continue the ASO’s mission of bringing new and exciting composers and guest artists to Atlanta. 

The ASO is one of the leading orchestras in the United States, performing more than 150 concerts each year from the Delta Classical, Movies in Concert, Family Concert, and Coca-Cola Holiday series, as well as the Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE concerts and many community and education concerts.

In addition, the ASO performs with the 200+ voice, all-volunteer ASO Chorus, originally founded in 1970 by Robert Shaw, and currently under the Direction of Norman Mackenzie. The chorus was featured on nine of the ASO’s Grammy-award winning recordings.