The Bangor Symphony Orchestra announced on Monday morning the first details of its 2013-14 season. The orchestra’s Executive Director Brian Hinrichs and Music Director Lucas Richman unveiled the five concerts, which range from a one-composer showcase to an array of new works.
“The BSO and I are excited to launch into our 118th season by glancing back through musical history while forging ahead into brave new territory,” Richman said. “Each concert is a must-see event unto itself, featuring our great orchestra with a roster of top-notch soloists performing some of the most brilliant works ever written for the concert hall. From the electrical storms of Beethoven to the bawdy revelry of Carl Orff, this season will be an energy-charged romp of powerful drama and musical fireworks.”
The season opens on Sept. 29 with a musical tour of Scotland starting with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and anchored by violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley’s performance of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. On Nov. 24, the BSO presents “Totally Tchaikovsky,” an all-Tchaikovsky program including the Coronation March, Symphony No. 5, and the composer’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 1 with guest soloist Inon Barnatan.
The Jan. 19, 2014 program titled “Journeys” will reunite composer Christopher Tin and Maestro Richman for the world premiere of Tin’s Sirens for orchestra and vocal quartet. Tin and Richman previously collaborated on the Grammy-winning album “Calling All Dawns.” Tin is known for his work as a composer for video games and film, and his song ‘Baba Yetu’ was the first work written for a video game to ever win a Grammy award. Richman will also compose a world-premiere work for the program, which is rounded out by Wagner’s Overture to Tannhäuser and Strauss’s epic tone-poem, Death and Transfiguration.
The BSO will perform a spring-themed program on Mar. 2, 2014, featuring Aaron Copland’s classic work of Americana, Appalachian Spring, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral). Horn player Richard Todd will showcase his innovative style in the world-premiere of composer Mark Harrell’s Concerto for Horn. The Masterworks Series concludes on Apr. 13, 2014 with a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana featuring the University of Maine Singers and Oratorio Society and guest vocalists Jennifer Barnett (soprano), Andrew Skoog (tenor), and Christopher Sanders (baritone).
Subscriptions to the five-concert Masterworks Series start at $80 and are available through the University of Maine’s Collins Center for the Arts Box Office at 581-1755 or collinscenterforthearts.com. All new subscribers to the 2013-2014 seasons will receive 50 percent off of their order (a new subscriber is someone who has not purchased a subscription since fall 2008). Subscribers wishing to add tickets for The Nutcracker (Dec. 21 and 22) to their order can do so already, and will have the option of adding the Pops concert when the full brochure mails later this spring.
The BDN is one of the sponsors of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.
