Fairfax Symphony Opens 2024-2025 Season With Works By Bernstein, Copland, and More

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra has opened its 2024-2025 season on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 8:00 pm at George Mason University's Harris Theatre. The concert program includes works by American classical music icons Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, and a new work by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, with New York-based piano soloist Lisa Moore. As Maestro Christopher Zimmerman begins his 15th season as FSO Music Director, this program exemplifies his commitment to presenting tried-and-true masterworks of the classical canon alongside new music by today's leading composers.

"The wide palette of symphonic music that we offer - from the blockbuster music of history's greatest composers with renowned soloists to new music and emerging artists - provides unique programs for our diverse audiences," said Zimmerman.

The concert opens and closes with works by American composer, conductor, pianist, and educator Leonard Bernstein. One of Bernstein's most-performed works, the Overture to Candide is an energetic, lyrical, and sparkling opener to the concert program. While he is known worldwide for writing the music to West Side Story, Bernstein's Broadway career began more than a decade earlier with On the Town, which hit Broadway when the composer was just 26 years old. "The story of On the Town is concerned with three sailors on 24-hour leave in New York, and their adventures with the monstrous city which its inhabitants take so for granted," Bernstein said. Soon after the musical premiered, Bernstein adapted portions of the musical for Three Dance Episodes from On the Town.

Similarly, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite is condensed from a longer work: in this case, Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring ballet from 1944. The ballet follows the narrative of an Appalachian housewarming for a pioneer and his bride. "After Martha gave me this bare outline, I knew certain crucial things - that it had to do with the pioneer American spirit, with youth and spring, with optimism and hope," Copland wrote. The FSO performs Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 instruments, first performed in 1970.

Elena Kats-Chernin's Force Majeure is a piano concerto in four movements, commissioned by pianist Lisa Moore, who is soloist on this concert. In the composer's words, "The title means 'irresistible compulsion, or greater force' and is reflected in the tremendous energy and rhythmic drive of the music." Force Majeure receives its first-ever U.S. performance on the FSO's concert, after a world premiere in Australia in 2022. Moore will discuss Force Majeure with Christopher Zimmerman in a pre-concert talk beginning at 7:00 pm.

During his tenure as Music Director, Christopher Zimmerman has championed new music and emerging artists and composers by commissioning seven new works and conducting 22 premieres; fostered partnerships with other local arts organizations; launched major educational and community engagement initiatives including the FSO Fellowship program; and successfully shepherded the institution through the COVID-19 pandemic, among many other achievements. During each FSO performance, Zimmerman uniquely elevates the concert experience by connecting with his audiences through historic, fun, and witty insights, taking them deeper into the music they will hear.

"Our commitment to artistic excellence is unwavering," said Zimmerman. "I believe our audiences know they can expect innovative musical experiences and quality performances from the FSO!"