The Albany Symphony recently unveiled its 2019-20 season, featuring phenomenal women in music, encounters with thrilling new music, and masterworks that have withstood the test of time.
Curated by Grammy-winning conductor and 2019 Grammy nominee, David Alan Miller, the season presents many new works by living American composers, solidifying the Capital District’s status as an international center for new music, while also presenting great classic masterpieces.
Following the theme of the upcoming 2019 American Music Festival and the symphony’s 2019 summer tour, “Sing Out, New York!” the 2019-20 season gives listeners the opportunity to hear scintillating music by leading female composers as well as performances by some of the best female musicians of today.
“The new season celebrates phenomenal women and the incredible contributions they have made and continue to make to the music world,” said Miller.
Highlights of the season include seven new or recent works by leading female American composers, including world premieres of new pieces by Albany Symphony Composer-Educator Angélica Negrón and Water Music NY composer, Loren Loiacono. Negrón’s premiere will be composed in collaboration with students from the Albany City School District as part of the Albany Symphony’s composer-educator residency, “Literacy Through Songwriting.” The Albany Symphony will also premiere new works by Sleeping Giant composer Christopher Cerrone and Grammy-nominated composer and Yale Professor Christopher Theofanidis.
The Symphony’s Clara Schumann Festival in January is a centerpiece of the new season.
The weekend festival includes performances of Clara’s and Robert’s Piano Concertos, performed by 13-year old piano virtuoso, Harmony Zhu. Before each orchestral concert, students from Bard College Conservatory will perform chamber and piano works as well as songs composed by Clara and Robert Schumann.
The 2019-20 season also features many beloved classics and iconic works. Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” opens the season, followed by Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony in November and Mozart’s “Linz” Symphony in December. Joann Falletta returns to conduct Prokofiev’s romantic classic, “Romeo & Juliet” on Valentine’s Day at Proctors in Schenectady, and David Alan Miller leads the orchestra in Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 8” in April, which Beethoven playfully referred to it as “my little Symphony in F.” In May, David Alan Miller and Kevin Cole will team up for “Gershwin in the Roaring ‘20s,” an exploration of Gershwin’s works written for and arranged by iconic band-leader, conductor, and the “King of Jazz,” Paul Whiteman, whose music archive is at Williams College.
The symphony will bring many great solo artists to the Capital District during its new season. Soprano Talise Trevigne and Albany Pro Music return to the Albany Symphony stage, while the Grammy-nominated quintet Imani Winds, pianist Shai Wosner, theremin virtuoso Carolina Eyck, Buffalo Philharmonic Principal Horn Jacek Muzyk, and the Brasilian Guitar Duo will make their Albany Symphony debuts. Albany Symphony’s Principal Trumpeter, Eric Berlin, will perform and record Christopher Rouse’s “Heimdall’s Trumpet” for release on Albany Records.
The 2019-20 season runs from October through the American Music Festival in June. Concerts will be held at the Palace Theatre, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Proctors in Schenectady, and EMPAC. With a growing audience, especially on Saturdays at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, subscriptions offer patrons the opportunity to purchase their favorite seat before tickets go on sale to the general public. Flexible “Compose Your Own” season subscriptions offers flexibility and convenience for professionals. Subscriptions start at $102. Students can purchase discount subscriptions and enjoy the full benefits of being a subscriber for as little as $45.