SIR DONALD RUNNICLES TO CONDUCT MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 5 FOR FINAL PERFORMANCES AS PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR

ASO TO RETURN TO AMERIS BANK AMPHITHEATRE WITH A PERFORMANCE OF STAR WARS AND MORE: THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS

WINDBORNE’S THE MUSIC OF DEF LEPPARD WITH THE ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO PLAY AT FREDERICK BROWN JR. AMPHITHEATER IN PEACHTREE CITY

Speakeysie News Desk – May 5, 2023

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will conclude the 2022-2023 Delta Classical Season with a strong lineup of performances in May and June.

The season finale of the Delta Classical season will see three performances of Beethoven and Boléro, Thursday, June 15, and Saturday, June 17 at 8:00pm, and Sunday, June 18 at 1:00pm, with Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann conducting. The program will include Ravel’s famous Boléro, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, played by French pianist Lise de la Salle. In a preview of her summer, the program will also include Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture. Stutzmann will conduct the full opera this summer as part of the Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, Germany.

On Thursday and Saturday, May 4 and 6, at 8:00pm, Runnicles will conduct Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, concluding his 22-year tenure as Principal Guest Conductor with a piece he and the orchestra know well, having last performed it together in 2015. “In the two decades of music making together, there was no more meaningful journey than exploring the symphonies of Gustav Mahler. This repertoire is in the DNA of the ASO, none more so than the epic Fifth Symphony,” Runnicles recently said.

That same weekend, on Saturday, May 6 at 4:00pm in Symphony Hall, the talented musicians of the ASO’s Talent Development Program (TDP) will perform their TDP Spring Recitals, featuring the students playing challenging works by Bach, Haydn, Strauss, and Mozart. And on Sunday, May 7, at 3:00pm, the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform their third concert of the season, Finale, in Symphony Hall. Conducted by ASYO Music Director Jerry Hou, the program will feature Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring as the closing piece. This is Jerry Hou’s last performance conducting the ASYO as Music Director and Resident Conductor of the ASO.

The Delta Classical Series continues the following weekend, Thursday, May 18, and Saturday, May 20 at 8:00pm as The Naughton Sisters will perform Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos, with Petr Popelka conducting the program that also includes Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8.

The ASO will kick off the summer months on Thursday, June 8, and Saturday, June 10 at 8:00pm with violinist Leila Josefowicz playing Helen Grime’s Violin Concerto. The program will also feature Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, made popular in Disney’s animated film Fantasia, and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 3, with Andrew Manze conducting. Thursday evening’s performance features a pre-concert Chamber recital with members of the ASO.

The Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE schedule begins May with its popular Movies in Concert Series. On Saturday, May 13 at 7:30pm and Sunday, May 14 at 3:00pm, the ASO will screen the complete film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens In Concert, with the Orchestra playing the Academy Award-winning score live to the film. Ticket availability is limited and the films are expected to sell out.

On Sunday, May 21 at 6:00pm, the ASO will return to Ameris Bank Amphitheatre to perform Star Wars and More: The Music of John Williams, featuring some of the greatest hits from the legendary Hollywood composer, including themes from the Raiders of the Lost Ark series, Jurassic Park, Jaws, and many more. Patrons are encouraged to arrive early and in costume for family-friendly activities, including photo opportunities with some of their favorite characters and face painting. 

On Friday, May 26, at 8:00pm, the Atlanta Jazz Festival presents The Blues and its People featuring Russell Gunn and the Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra in Symphony Hall. This show is a part of Atlanta’s famous Jazz Festival and is produced by The Apollo Theater.

Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE brings laughs to the hall when Comedian Eddie B takes Symphony Hall’s stage on Friday, June 9 at 8:00pm for his Teachers Only Comedy Tour. The laughs continue on Friday, June 16 at 7:30pm with An Evening with Larry the Cable Guy, presented by Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE and Outback Presents.

And finally, the ASO returns to The Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater in Peachtree City on Saturday, June 24, at 7:30pm to perform Windborne’s The Music of Def Leppard with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Brent Havens leads a program that expands Def Leppard’s signature songs to include orchestra, along with a full rock band and the vocals of singer Justin Sargent.
 

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.
 

CALENDAR LISTING

Thursday, May 4, 8:00pm
Saturday, May 6, 8:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Donald Runnicles, conductor
Irene Roberts, mezzo-soprano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

BERG: Three excerpts from Wozzeck
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5

Saturday, May 6, 4:00pm
Sunday, May 7, 7:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Talent Development Spring Recitals

Sunday, May 7, 3:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Jerry Hou, conductor
Hocket, piano duo
Cirque Quintet
Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra
 

Finale Concert
PROKOFIEV: Quintet in G Minor
BIZET: L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2
SARAH GIBSON: Can’t Never Could: A Fantasy for Two Pianos and Orchestra (ASYO Commission)
STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring

Wednesday, May 10, 1:30pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall
Jerry Hou, conductor
Carlos Simon, spoken word
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

EarShot New Music Readings
FRED ONOVWEROSUOKE: The Gathering—An Overture for Orchestra
SOFÍA ROCHA: Collage d’hommages
ALYSSA REGENT: Where Even Shadows Are Light
AHMED ALABACA: Ode to Liberty

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Saturday, May 13, 7:30pm
Sunday, May 14, 3:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Christopher Confessore, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Concert

Thursday, May 18, 8:00pm
Saturday, May 20, 8:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Petr Popelka, conductor
The Naughton Sisters, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

KAPRÁLOVÁ: Military Sinfonietta
MARTINŮ: Concerto for Two Pianos
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8

Sunday, May 21, 6:00pm
Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Jerry Hou, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Star Wars and More: The Music of John Williams

Friday, May 26, 8:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

The Blues and Its People

Thursday, June 8, 8:00pm
Saturday, June 10, 8:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Andrew Manze, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
 

MUSSORGSKY: Night on Bald Mountain
HELEN GRIME: Violin Concerto
RACHMANINOV: Symphony No. 3

Friday, June 9, 8:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Eddie B: Teachers Only Tour

Thursday, June 15, 8:00pm
Saturday, June 17, 8:00pm
Sunday, June 18, 1:00pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Lise de la Salle, piano
 
WAGNER: Tannhäuser Overture
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3
RAVEL: Le tombeau de Couperin
RAVEL: Boléro

Friday, June 16, 7:30pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall

An Evening with Larry the Cable Guy

Saturday, June 24, 2023
The Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater

Brent Havens, conductor
Justin Sargent, vocalist
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Windborne’s The Music of Def Leppard with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra