Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s 2013-2014 will feature five world premieres, an array of some of the best-known guest artists in the business, and ASO music director Robert Spano leading the orchestra and chorus for its annual visit to Carnegie Hall as well as Verdi’s massive opera, “Aida.”
The orchestra's 69th season opens Sept. 26 with a concert featuring pianist Andre Watts performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. Other featured soloists during the season include Joshua Bell, Hillary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Stephen Hough, and Jessica Rivera, as well as ASO concertmaster David Coucheron, principal cellist Christopher Rex, and principal oboist Elizabeth Koch Tiscione.
“Three new voices will be heard this season: Richard Prior, Jonathan Leshnoff, and Mark Gray. The engagement with living composers is a vital part of our musical experience, taking us on new journeys and refreshing our understanding of music of the past, “ Spano said.
Oct. 3-5, Prior’s “American Symphony” will be the first of the five world premieres on tap for this season. An Atlantan, Prior is head of orchestra studies at Emory University. Later in the season, the orchestra will give the first performances of works by Gray, as well as by Michael Gandolfi, Phillip Lasser and Charles Zoll.
In addition, six works will have their Atlanta premieres, including new works from Leshnoff as well as Adam Schoenberg. Schoenberg and Gandolfi are members of Spano’s elite “Atlanta School” of composers, a group selected for repeat performances and a special relationship with the ASO.
For the Carnegie Hall concert on April 30, 2014, the orchestra and chorus will perform Benjamin Britten’s towering “War Requiem,” a work that will be one of the centerpieces of the hall’s celebration of the centennial of the composer’s birth. Earlier, on January 23-26, 2014, noted pianist Wu Han will perform Britten’s rarely heard Piano Concerto with the orchestra.
Spano and Donald Runnicles, principal guest conductor, both celebrating their 13th season with the orchestra, will perform together as duo-pianists in a unique program featuring Ravel and Stravinsky on March 13-16, 2014.
This season’s line-up of guest conductors includes Robert Abbado, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Thomas Sondergard. The latter will make his debut.
The popular pre-concert chamber music recitals, free to ticket holders, will continue, beginning at 6:45 for select concerts. New this year is a series of five “First Friday” concerts, beginning at 6 p.m. These hour-long concerts will feature “abbreviated versions” of the week’s subscription concerts for those who like things early and short.
The ASO POPS! season , led by Michael Krajewski, will open Oct. 25 and will, for the first time, include the ASO chorus. Concerts include the “Cirque de la Symphonie” on Nov. 29-30 and “A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch” on March 28-29, 2014.
This will be the 20th anniversary season of the orchestra's groundbreaking Talent Development Program, which focuses on minority youth, and the group will present concerts in the spring and fall, as well as at the fourth annual Symphony Gala. Three subscription concerts will feature the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, comprised of top students from Atlanta schools.
The season will end with a performance of Verdi’s “Aida” on June 5-8, 2014, conducted by Spano and featuring Latania Moore in the title role.
To celebrate “Season Announcement Day,” the orchestra will be hosting Facebook and Twitter events, with trivia questions and prizes from 10 to 3 Wednesday.
The ASO will preview its season with an online video and podcasts Wednesday. Contests and ticket giveaways will he held on social media (
,
) from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Season tickets are on sale at 404.733.4800 or online at aso.org. Individual tickets will go on sale in August.
About the Author
