Featured Guest Artists Include Benjamin Beilman, Nick van Bloss, Michael Brown, Chris Brubeck, Debbie Gravitte, Tessa Lark, and Worcester Chorus
Opening Night Kicks Off Month-Long “Northern Lights Festival” with Partners from Yale School of Music
Principal Pops Conductor Chelsea Tipton to Lead “Holiday Extravaganza” and “John Williams in Concert” in Downtown New Haven
Hannah Lash Named Composer-In-Residence
NHSO Leads Veterans Salute with “Brothers In Arts” at Shubert Theater
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Music Director William Boughton are proud to announce the concerts and programs for the 2015 – 2016 Concert Season.
Boughton says, “If the Orchestra’s 2015 – 2016 Season has one overriding theme it’s The Power of Music, whether that be in the hands of Jean Sibelius at our Northern Lights Festival in October, who instigated revolution and changed his homeland of Finland forever, or the music of John Williams at the Shubert in June 2016, which heightens and deepens the emotions of all those wonderful movies. (Who didn’t cry at the end of E.T.?)
“Music comforts but also stimulates and provokes us to feel in ways that the other arts cannot. Our April concert at the Shubert includes African American spirituals, which conveyed hidden messages to those on the Underground Railroad whilst providing the strength to keep going. Nick van Bloss, who will join us in February for Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, suffers from Tourette Syndrome but when he’s making music his symptoms disappear. Again and again this season we will see music expressing that which words cannot.”
The 2015 – 2016 season will include concerts at the Symphony’s home venues in New Haven- Woolsey Hall and the Shubert Theater- as well as continuing its pops programs in Hamden and Shelton. The NHSO will also build upon its strategic plan of offering concerts across the state with performances in Essex, Middletown, Wilton, and Worcester, MA, with additional regional performances to be announced.
This season will feature three NHSO “New Generation Artists”: pianist Michael Brown, violinist Tessa Lark and violinist Benjamin Beilman. As members of the NHSO New Generation Artist roster, these rising stars of classical music will perform live with the NHSO at the launch their international careers. The season will also feature NHSO principal clarinetist David Shifrin and principal oboist Olav van Hezewijk as soloists.
The Yale School of Music will join the NHSO in exploring the northernmost point in Western music at the Northern Lights Festival, a month long celebration of Scandinavian composers and music. The festival will kick off at the opening night concert with music by Grieg and Sibelius; the centerpiece of the festival will be the October 29 performance of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7, plus Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto featuring principal clarinetist David Shifrin.
The Pops Series will continue to delight audiences in Hamden and Shelton with a tribute to the singer-songwriters of the seventies, Christmas carols and festive favorites at the annual Holiday Extravaganza – this year with a performance in Woolsey Hall. Maestro Tipton will act as emcee for a special event concert as Tony-Award winning Broadway star Debbie Gravitte returns to the NHSO Pops in March. Finally, it’s music from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park at John Williams in Concert, which will be performed in downtown New Haven at the Shubert Theater as well as Hamden and Shelton.
The 2015 – 2016 season marks the beginning of a two year journey with the NHSO’s new composer in residence, Hannah Lash, as she composes her newest and most monumental work, a complete Symphony based on the mysterious Voynich manuscript housed in Yale’s Beineke Library. Lash will follow in the footsteps of internationally-acclaimed American composers Augusta Read Thomas and Christopher Theofanidis as the third NHSO Composer-in-Residence.
The Voynich Project’s defining feature will be the involvement and partnership of the Greater New Haven community and music lovers connected electronically across the globe in the working process and creation of this commission. Throughout the composition process, Lash will write and video record her progress on the piece and walk the New Haven community through the creation of this brand new work. The NHSO will premiere each of the four movements over the course of two seasons, with the first movement, “Herbal,” premiered on October 1, 2015 and the second movement, “Astronomical,” premiered on May 19, 2016.
Boughton says, “Essential to the NHSO’s declared mission is our dedication to supporting American music and musicians, so we are proud to announce Hannah Lash as our Composer-in-Residence for the next two seasons. This massive undertaking will take place over her two year residency and will be released one movement at a time, allowing you, the listener, to be a part of this journey of creation and discovery.”
In 2015 – 2016, its 122nd season in operation, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra continues to fulfill its mission of increasing the impact and value of orchestral music for its audiences through high quality, affordable performances and educational programming. The NHSO presents more than 55 concerts per season throughout the region and reaches more than 30,000 students through its award-winning educational and community programming. For more information, visit www.NewHavenSymphony.org
THE NHSO 2015 – 2016 SEASON:
Click here to view the 2015 – 2016 Classics Series.
Click here to view the 2015 – 2016 Hamden Pops Series.
Click here to view the 2015 – 2016 Shelton Pops Series.
Click here to view subscription and single ticket pricing for the 2015 – 2016 season.
All artists, dates and programs are subject to change.
Symphony at the Shubert Series is sponsored by Marcum, LLC. The Classics Series receives concert sponsorship support from Knights of Columbus. The Hamden Pops Series is sponsored by Whitney Center. The Shelton Pops Series is sponsored by RD Scinto. KidTix and Blue Star Tickets are sponsored by Frontier. The NHSO’s concerts and programs are made possible with support from New Alliance Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Better ITS, and many others. The NHSO media sponsor is the New Haven Register.
