NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester Symphony Orchestra announced its 85th season with a schedule of four concerts under Debra Lynn, conductor and artistic director.
A logo for a symphony orchestra Description automatically generated“I’m tremendously excited about this season,” Lynn said. “Each concert offers a smorgasbord of music from a wide variety of time periods. There will definitely be something for everyone.”
Balancing celebrated masterworks with pieces by composers who are underrepresented in classical music, Lynn has crafted a season to remember. Nearly a quarter of the programming is music by non-male and non-white composers.
All concerts are at 3 p.m. Sundays.
Serenade of Strings is Oct. 8 in Cordier Auditorium on the North Manchester campus of Manchester University. The all-strings concert offers “Serenata Notturna” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “The Fire Remains” by contemporary composer Linda Kernohan, “A Moorside Suite” by Gustav Holst and the world premiere of “Proverbes sur les Animaux” (proverbs about animals) composted by Lynn. The debut’s soloist is Emily Lynn, soprano, a 2020 graduate of Manchester University who is pursuing a career in opera.
Glory and Wonder! is Dec. 10 in Cordier. It features “Gloria” by Francis Poulenc, “Toccata in the Style of Frescobaldi” by Hans Kindler, “Suite from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” by Danny Elfman, and it ends with “Christmas Overture” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The symphony hosts the Fort Wayne Youth Symphony Strings and area high school choirs at this concert.
“Our grand finale should be particularly stunning with our combined ensembles,” Lynn said. “With the Manchester symphony, youth symphony and high school choirs, there will be a lot of people on stage!”
Brahms and Beyond is March 10 in Cordier. Symphony guest artist Filip Michalak will perform “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Johannes Brahms. The concert also presents the grand “Royal Fireworks Overture” by George Frideric Handel and “Duo Ye” by contemporary Chinese composer Chen Yi.
“Our fabulous guest artist-in-residence, Filip Michalak, is a very talented up-and-coming pianist from Copenhagen,” Lynn said. “Brahms’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 1 is one of the most beautiful works in the repertoire for concert piano.”
Michalak will be in North Manchester for a week, working with the orchestra, doing K-12 outreach, offering a master class and doing a recital of solo works in addition to the MSO concert.
Creatures Great and Small on May 12 at the Honeywell Center, Wabash celebrates animals and nature. It features “Wood Notes” by African-American composer William Grant Still; “And God Created Great Whales,” a symphonic poem for orchestra and recorded whale sounds by Alan Hovhaness; concertmaster Elizabeth Smith will perform the shimmering “The Lark Ascending” by Ralph Vaughan Williams; and the finale of the season is “Overture to Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss.
Tickets are $20 for general admission. Admission with ID is free for Manchester University students, faculty and staff, as well as anyone younger than 18. Tickets can be purchased at www.manchestersymphonyorchestra.org or at the door.