History to be made when Austin Symphony adds Beethoven festival, midday concerts to next season
We’ve been waiting for Austin Symphony to step outside its programming footprint since we moved to town in 1984. For the first time, the ensemble has added a summer Beethoven festival as well as much-needed midday concerts to its next season.
Additionally, Music Director Peter Bay will team up again with Craig Hella Johnson and the Conspirare Symphonic Choir to perform Beethoven’s majestic Ninth Symphony.
We love matinees. Less traffic. Earlier bedtimes. Lighter social obligations. When a major Austin arts group offers a matinee option, we often take it.
The Austin Symphony joins the matinee club — tentatively — with two 2 p.m. concerts in the spring that will present hour-long versions of their evening Masterworks shows.
Also, most significant American orchestras put on some sort of summer fare, sometimes in a cool, sylvan setting. Well, Texas doesn’t really offer that kind of ideal outdoor opportunity, although many a brave soul will take to hillside stages for cultural treats in the hot months.
Instead, the Austin Symphony will celebrate Beethoven’s 250 birthday comfortably indoors at Dell Hall with a two-day-long festival in June that will include performances of all five Beethoven piano concertos by Austin concert keyboard star Anton Nel.
I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Season subscriptions are available now and start as low as $188 for the Masterworks Series concerts and $96 for the Butler Pops Series. Single tickets will go on sale Aug. 12, 2019. Once the season begins, student rush tickets will be available 20 minutes prior to the performance for $5 cash with a current student ID (subject to availability). Season tickets are available online at www.austinsymphony.org. Tickets are also available at the Austin Symphony box office, 11th and Red River, or by calling 512-476-6064.
COMPLETE CONCERT LISTINGS
Masterworks Series – All masterworks performances are at the Long Center for Performing Arts in Dell Hall
MASTERWORKS I: SEPTEMBER 13-14
Season Opener – “Triple Delight”
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Chorus Austin
Schubert: Magnificat in C Major, D. 486
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467
Duruflé: Requiem, Op. 9
MASTERWORKS II: OCTOBER 18-19
“Spectres!”
Matt Haimovitz, cello
Franck: Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman)
Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
MASTERWORKS III: NOVEMBER 22-23, 2019
“Compassion”
Lior, vocalist
Mozart: Overture to La clemenza di Tito, K. 621
Mozart: Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425, Linz
Westlake-Attar: Compassion (A Song Cycle in Seven Movements)
MASTERWORKS IV: JANUARY 10-11, 2020
“Rach Star”
Orion Weiss, piano
Brahms/Schoenberg: Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30
MASTERWORKS V: FEBRUARY 7-8, 2020
“Picture Perfect”
Jessica Mathaes, violin
Stephanie Busing, visual artist
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, “Autumn,” RV. 293 & “Winter,” RV. 297
Hindemith: Symphony: Mathis der Maler
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
MASTERWORKS VI: MARCH 6-7, 2020
“March Madness”
Vadim Gluzman, violin
Wendy Warner, cello
Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 in G Major, Op. 39
Brahms: Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
Chabrier: Joyeuse marche
Beethoven: Turkisch Marsch from Die Ruinen von Athen, Op. 113
Palmgren: Exotisk Marsch, Op. 46
J. Strauss, Jr.: Ägyptischer Marsch, Op. 335
Chopin-Elgar: Marche Funèbre from Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35
Tchaikovsky: Marche slave, Op. 31
MASTERWORKS VII: APRIL 3-4, 2020
“American Landscapes”
John Novacek, piano
Copland: Suite from The Heiress
Gould: Interplay
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite
MASTERWORKS VIII: MAY 15-16, 2020
“Beethoven at 250!”
Conspirare Symphonic Choir
TBA, soloists
Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D Major, London
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, Choral
Sarah & Ernest Butler Pops Series
POPS I: OCTOBER 26, 2019; Dell Hall
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” – Film with Orchestra
POPS II: DECEMBER 28/29, 2019; Palmer Events Center
“Lush Life” – Music of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn
POPS III: FEBRUARY 22, 2020; Dell Hall
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” – Film with Orchestra
POPS IV: MAY 29/30, 2020; Palmer Events Center
“Unforgettable” – Music of Nat & Natalie Cole
Special Events
OCTOBER 28, 2019; Long Center’s Dell Hall
Halloween Children’s Concert
DECEMBER 4, 2019; Hyde Baptist Church
Handel’s Messiah
DECEMBER 5, 2019; Emmaus Catholic Church
Handel’s Messiah
DECEMBER 2019; Austin area
Christmas in the Community
MIDDAY MASTERWORKS I
APRIL 4, 2020; Long Center’s Dell Hall
MIDDAY MASTERWORKS II
May 16, 2020; Long Center’s Dell Hall
BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL
June 18-19, 2020; Long Center’s Dell Hall
JUNE – AUGUST 2020; Hartman Concert Park
Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park
JULY 4, 2020; Vic Mathias Shores
H-E-B Austin Symphony July 4th Concert & Fireworks
JULY 26, 2020; Long Center’s Dell Hall
Sarah & Ernest Butler Texas Young Composers Concert
