Canton Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-2016 Season
is a Mix of Old, New and In Between!
CANTON, OHIO (April 7, 2015) – With a season program that includes composers from the late 1700’s through present day with 2 World premieres, an Ohio premiere, Dancing Wheels and a multi-media HD Odyssey, the Canton Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 season offers classics with a flare.
Opening night on October 3, 2015, begins with Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, a piece commissioned by the Houston Symphony and first performed in 1987 as part of the Texas Sesquicentennial celebrations. Guest percussionist, Colin Currie will perform on Christopher Rouse’s Der gerettete Alberich (Alberich Saved) and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries rounds out the program.
The November 1 program, entitled “Symphony Noir”, pays tribute to the fall season. Spencer Myer, guest pianist, performs Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, and a men’s chorus joins in on Liszt’s Mephistofeles. Other pieces in the program include Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain and Saint-Saëns’ Dance Macabre.
Dancing Wheels, a professional, physically integrated dance company uniting the talents of dancers both with and without disabilities, brings their “Walls of Glass” program to Canton on November 21. Their portion of the concert will feature innovative choreography to Mahler’s Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. Also on the program – a World Premiere piece by Oscar-nominated and ASCAP award winning composer Stephen Melillo, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Always popular with the CSO’s audiences, the Canton Symphony Chorus appears on the January 23, 2016 concert to perform Morton Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna and Borodin’s Polivestsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor. This program also features the Ohio premiere of a work by Dallas native Christopher Theofanidis, and Overture to Oberon by Carl Maria Von Weber (born in 1786 – the earliest born composer on this season’s repertoire).
“Young at Heart” is the theme for the February concert. Canton native William Shaub, currently a scholarship student at the Juilliard School, will be the featured soloist for Fritz Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro and Leibeslied as well as Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen. Keeping with the theme, the Canton Youth Symphony will perform side-by-side with the CSO for two selections – Bizet’s Carmen Suite with Assistant Conductor and CYS music director Rachel Waddell conducting and Arturo Márquez’ Danzón No. 2 under Maestro Zimmermann’s baton.
The CSO is honored to perform with Grammy Award winning banjoist, Belá Fleck on March 19, 2016 for the World Premiere of Fleck’s new Banjo Concerto! Also on this exciting program – Berlioz’ Roman Carnival Overture and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
The season closes with “The Earth – and HD Odyssey” – the second film in the HD Odyssey set commissioned by the Houston Symphony. High definition photos taken by NASA missions of planet earth are set to Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra and Adams’ electrifying A Short Ride in a Fast Machine. The program also features Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5.
Subscriptions for the 7-concert series are $135-$210 and are on sale now. The CSO also offers a Choose Four package which allows patrons to choose 4 of the seven concerts at a discounted price while also enjoying the same benefits of a subscriber. Choose Four packages are $85-$165. Subscription tickets and a full schedule of Canton Symphony events are available at www.cantonsymphony.org, by calling 330-452-2094 or at the Zimmermann Symphony Center – 2331 17th Street NW in Canton – weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
Founded in 1937, the Canton Symphony Orchestra is a fully professional ensemble and organization dedicated to performing concerts that enrich, educate and entertain. Under the direction of Gerhardt Zimmermann, the orchestra performs classical, pops, holiday, and educational programs. Most performances are in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, 2323 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio (at McKinley High School across from C.T. Branin Natatorium). Parking at McKinley High School is free. For more information, please visit www.CantonSymphony.org.
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