The Season begins! The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) will kick off its 2017 – 2018 concert season on Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 7:30pm in Woolsey Hall. This opening concert, led by NHSO music director William Boughton, will feature Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano with the Symphony’s Artists-in-Residence this season, the Brown-Urioste-Canellakis Trio (pianist Michael Brown, violinist Elena Urioste, and cellist Nick Canellakis).
The concert will open with a full “surround sound” experience: brass musicians will surround the audience in the balcony of Woolsey Hall for Gabrieli’s Sonata Pian e forte. Then the program will immediately turn to the NHSO string section onstage for George Walker’s Lyric for Strings. Concert highlights also will include Benjamin Britten’s poetry-inspired “Four Sea Interludes” from Peter Grimes and Mexican composer Arturo Marquez’s fiery Danzon No. 2, recognizable from Season Two of Mozart in the Jungle.
Pianist Michael Brown, violinist Elena Urioste, and cellist Nicholas Canellakis have established themselves as three of the most sought-after young virtuosos on the classical music scene today. Winners, individually, of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, BBC New Generation Artist Scheme, Sphinx and Concert Artists Guild competitions, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center auditions, they have performed in prestigious venues across the United States and Europe, including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, and London’s Wigmore and Royal Festival Halls.
The trio will perform together on Opening Night, and each musician will return to perform a solo concerto with the orchestra this spring. Brown will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 on February 15; Canellakis will perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 on March 22; and Urioste will perform Korngold’s Violin Concerto on May 10.
The September 28 concert will be the NHSO’s annual School Night at the Symphony, when the NHSO invites all K-12 students, teachers, staff, and their families to attend free of charge. Those interested must have registered prior to the performance. As of Friday, September 22, nearly 1,000 children and their family members had registered for the event. The Symphony’s education will host an “instrument discovery” zone prior to the concert in the upper lobby where students can try orchestral instruments.
There will be a special “Prelude” pre-concert talk at 6:30pm with the Brown-Urioste-Canellakis Trio in Sudler Hall (located a few doors down from Woolsey Hall on College Street). The talk will be moderated by Amy Christman, Music Department Chair at Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. The public can participate in the “Prelude” in person or electronically in a Facebook livestream at Facebook.com/NewHavenSymphony.
Tickets: Adult tickets are $15 – $74. College student tickets are $10 and KidTix (kids under 18) are free with the purchase of an adult ticket. Blue Star tickets for active military personnel and their immediate family are free. For tickets and information call 203.865.0831 or visit www.NewHavenSymphony.org.
Pre-Concert Activities:
Symphony Supper: Audience members can indulge in a delicious Symphony Supper with other music lovers at Barcelona prior to the performance; tickets for this dinner are $38/pp and include tax and tip. Visit NewHavenSymphony.org or call 203.865.0831 to book a reservation.
Prelude: Join the NHSO for an intriguing free pre-concert discussion with the Brown-Urioste-Canellakis Trio from 6:30-7:00pm the night of the concert at Sudler Hall in Harkness Hall at Yale University. This event will also be available to stream live at Facebook.com/NewHavenSymphony.
Opening Night is co-sponsored by Northwestern Mutual and Town Fair Tire. The concert radio sponsor is WSHU. The Classics Series media sponsor is the New Haven Register. KidTix and Blue Star Tix are sponsored by Frontier Communications.
