Due to the lockdown of the Woodruff Arts Center during Wednesday’s Midtown shooting, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has switched tonight’s concert to a ticketed dress rehearsal. The concert features principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles in his final ASO performances, leading the musicians in Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and excerpts from Alban Berg’s opera “Wozzeck” with mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts. Runnicles has served as the symphony’s principal guest conductor since 2001.
According to an ASO spokesperson, the evening will feel like a normal concert, but Runnicles may stop and restart the Berg, practicing phrases and talking the musicians through musical passages, as needed. Saturday’s concert will go on as planned.
“We lost a rehearsal, so Thursday’s concert will be a dress rehearsal,” the ASO spokesperson said. “We’re doing our best in a difficult situation.”
The Woodruff Arts Center, home to Symphony Hall, is located just a few blocks northeast of the scene of the 1110 W. Peachtree St. shooting that took place just after noon on Wednesday.
After the active shooter notification on Wednesday, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra enacted lockdown protocols. Many musicians were grabbing lunch throughout Midtown at the time, forcing them to shelter in place away from Symphony Hall. Instead of starting rehearsals for the Berg when the lockdown lifted, the organization opted to send the musicians — safe and sound but rattled — home.
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