The Manchester Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is prepping for its 88th season.
“I am thrilled about this music!” said Conductor and Artistic Director Debra Lynn. “Mark your calendar now because you don’t want to miss a note. This year, we’ve made a special effort to balance our repertoire more evenly between new, diverse works and familiar, beloved symphonic standards.”
The season begins with A New World concert on Oct. 4 at Manchester University’s Cordier Auditorium, featuring the “New World Symphony” by Antonín Dvořák, “A Place in the Sun” suite by Franz Waxman, “American Salute” by Morton Gould and based on “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” by Patrick Gilmore, and Aaron Copland’s rousing “Hoedown from Rodeo.”
“A Place in the Sun” showcases Scott Humphries on saxophone. The Fort Wayne resident is well known to MSO fans as its former conductor.
“Our first concert features music composed right here in the USA, celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday,” Lynn said. “Scott Humphries’ saxophone solo adds a textural layer not often heard in symphonic music.”
The MSO will kick off the holiday season on Nov. 22 with its Winter Wonderland concert at Cordier.
“We’ll include the familiar tunes ‘Winter Wonderland’ by Felix Bernard and Leroy Anderson’s timeless ‘Sleigh Ride,’ complete with horse whinnies and whip cracks,” Lynn said. A chorus will join the symphony for Sergei Prokofiev’s delightful “Winter Bonfire.”
“In stark contrast, ‘Sinfonia Antartica’ by Vaughan Williams tells the devastating story of Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole (1910–1913), from which no one survived.”
It is always a special treat for the MSO to perform at the Honeywell Center in Wabash. The Feb. 21 concert in Ford Theater will feature classical guitarist Daniel Quinn.
“I’m very excited to perform Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo’s charming ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ with Daniel, an exceptionally gifted musician from right here in northeast Indiana. I’m also excited to offer the world premiere of my composition entitled ‘Wonders,’ in which each movement is inspired by the seven natural wonders of the world,” Lynn said.
The repertoire also includes “Norse Legend” by Frank Bridge and “Bamboula” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
The MSO will end its season with symphonic music inspired by four Shakespeare plays: “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” The concert is April 11 at the Eagles Theatre in Wabash. Selections include “Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture” by Felix Mendelssohn and the “Romeo and Juliet Suite” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
“There is something for everyone this season,” Lynn said. “I can’t wait to share the stage with our amazing MSO musicians and guest artists to bring masterworks new and old to the region.”
All performances are on Sundays at 3 p.m. Concert tickets are $20 and will be available at www.manchestersymphonyorchestra.org.
North Manchester is one of the smallest communities in the nation with its own symphony orchestra. Residents of Wabash County and what was then Manchester College founded the symphony in 1939. That partnership continues today, in its 88th season, with a carefully crafted collaboration of professional and community musicians, as well as selected Manchester University faculty, staff, and student musicians.
