Amarillo Symphony Announces the 91st Red Hot Season!
Traditional Classics and Premium Pops Ignite together for the 2015 – 2016 Season
AMARILLO, TEXAS – (May 15, 2015) – The Amarillo Symphony, (www.amarillosymphony.org), the leader of orchestral music in the Texas Panhandle since 1924, today announces details regarding the concert repertoire for the upcoming 2015 – 2016 season. After much planning and deliberation, Jacomo Rafael Bairos is proud to present the new season filled with something for the entire family.
“We are beyond thrilled to announce our 91st season! With exciting concerts that feature not only some of the most favorite and treasured classics, we will also be showcasing the talent, artistry and musicianship of our very own Amarillo Symphony musicians in concertos throughout the season” said, Jacomo Rafael Bairos, music director and conductor of the Amarillo Symphony. “We have also added a new and exciting series titled “Premium Pops” that will bring a new twist to Amarillo by celebrating music from Movies, Broadway and other genres through this new and exciting series.”
Beginning in September with Strike A Chord, the season premiere features Brahms’ lush, sincere and romantic Symphony No. 2. The Amarillo Symphony will feature new Concertmaster and Principal second violinists, Espen Lilleslatten and Michelle Skinner on Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, a personal favorite of Music Director and Conductor, Jacomo Rafael Bairos. Rounding out the program is a new work by Composer in Residence, Chris Rogerson and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite which features all the sections of the orchestra in solo passages.
In October the Amarillo Symphony begins the new Premium Pops series with Ballroom Heatwave. An exciting blend of dance with the music of Strauss, Jr., Gardel and Prima will include Waltz’s, Latin Tangos and Rhumbas as well as American Jazz and a little Pharrell William’s. The incredible Metropolitan Ballroom dancers will grace the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts stage with their beautiful choreography and create a magical evening of music and dance.
Brilliance Ablaze, coming to Amarillo this November, the Amarillo Symphony will celebrate another member of the orchestra, Principal Cellist, Lynn Kabat in not one, but two cello concertos. Korngold’s short, but beautiful Cello Concerto will be followed by French Master Camille Saint-Saens Cello Concerto. The program will also include Tchaikovsky’s heroic and fateful Symphony No. 4 as well as music by the new winner of the West Texas A&M University and the Amarillo Symphony’s Young Composer Initiative. This is a night filled with celebrating all thing Amarillo and shouldn’t be missed.
Favorite musician and friend of the Amarillo Symphony, Yuriy Bekker comes to Amarillo in January to perform double duty during the Simmer and Glow performances. He will conduct Dvorak’s popular Symphony No. 9, which was inspired by the Czech Masters travels throughout America while he was living in the United States. Maestro Bekker will also perform as soloist on the violin while leading the orchestra in Vivaldi’s seminal Violin Concerto, The Four Season. Don’t miss this special treat where the orchestra and soloist perform together in a very intimate and unique way.
The second Premium Pops concert White Hot Movie Music in February of the 2015 – 2016 season will be a concert of Movie Music Hits! The Amarillo Symphony will perform the greatest composers from Hollywood whose music has touched the lives of people around the world and has won major film awards time and time again. This will be an exciting evening of pops music programming that the audience will love and enjoy.
March’s performance of Firebird is a night of dance inspired music! Arturo Marquez Danzon No. 2 will start off with a Latin Bang. Mexican American violinist and Amarillo favorite Elena Urioste returns to perform American music and dance inspired concertos with the Symphony. Stravinsky’s seminal Firebird, originally for the Ballet Ruse Company in France will finish off this passionate dance inspired evening.
Finally, we end our 91st season with PROJECT Trio in April during the Playing with Fire Premium Pops series. The last time PROJECT Trio came to town they literally blew the roof off of the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts and had the Amarillo Symphony audiences in frenzy. They return with their same fire brand style to perform new arrangements and a brand new concerto specifically written by Adam Schoenberg. The program ends with more music representing misfits and wild boys; Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks follows the trials and tribulations of the anti-hero as he lives his life on the edge. Copland’s Suite from Billy the Kid represents one of America’s most iconic folklore characters and will send this concert off with a bang!
The Amarillo Symphony’s Red Hot 2015 – 2016 season schedule is as follows:
- Strike A Chord | September 18 & 19, 2015
- Ballroom Heatwave | October 16 & 17, 2015 | Premium Pops Series
- Brilliance Ablaze! | November 20 & 21, 2015
- Simmer & Glow | January 22 & 23, 2016
- White Hot Movie Music | February 19 & 20, 2016 | Premium Pops Series
- Firebird | March 11 & 12, 2016
- Playing With Fire! | April 22 & 23, 2016 | Premium Pops Series
All Amarillo Symphony performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. and are hosted in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts.
For more information or to subscribe to the 2015 – 2016 season, please call the Amarillo Symphony office at 806-376-8782.
The 2015 – 2016 season is sponsored in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts. Learn more about the Amarillo Symphony at www.amarillosymphony.org.
