Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra Announces 2024-25 Lineup

Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra’s 2023-24 season will showcase music from a wide range of composers and a Pro Arte debut for a Newton native during this the ensemble’s 47th season.

The season opens October 27th as Newton native Gabriel Lefkowitz makes his Pro Arte debut conducting Treasures of Youth and Age. Currently the concertmaster and Resident Conductor of the Louisville Symphony,  he is the son of Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) violinist Ronan Lefkowitz, and studied at Walnut Hill School before getting his BA from Columbia and Masters degree at Juilliard.  

Maestro Lefkowitz will lead a program that features Tanner Porter’s Canyons, in which she paints nature at its most jagged, imposing, and majestic; and Joseph Suk’s warm Serenade for Strings, Op. 6.  This work won him early critical acclaim from Johannes Brahms and positioned him as the successor to his teacher Antonín Dvořák.

A work like no other, Richard Strauss’s vibrant Duet-Concertino features writing so organic, its solo clarinet and bassoon seem to become living, breathing characters. Principal clarinetist Ian Greitzer, and principal bassoonist Ronald Haroutunian will be the soloists.

Pro Arte’s Conductor Emerita Gisèle Ben-Dor will lead the ensemble in Musical Super Heroes  on January 26, 2025.  This family-friendly concert, presented at Newton City Hall’s War Memorial Auditorium, will offer a repertoire for the young and young-at-heart.

On April 6th,  Alyssa Wang will conduct a program titled The Passionate Viola. She is co-founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of the Boston Festival Orchestra, as well as Assistant Conductor for the Boston Ballet. Pro Arte will perform Haydn's Symphony No. 49 in f minor,  La Passione; Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite; and Jennifer Higdon Concerto for Viola, with violist Anne Black. 

A New Trumpet Tune is the title for the last full ensemble concert of the season on June 8th, conducted by James Burton, BSO Choral Director and Tanglewood Festival Chorus Conductor.  In addition to Dvorak’s Czech Suite Op. 39, Elena Langer’s Concerto for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra will receive its world premiere. In a 2023 interview, she said “I had a fantastic concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and they have a fantastic, very bright brass sound, polished and very smart. Their trumpeter asked me if it is possible to write a Trumpet Concerto for him and the chamber orchestra, so I agreed.”  Boston Symphony Orchestra trumpet player Benjamin Wright is the player she was referring to in that interview, and he is the soloist for the premiere.  

The Salon Series concerts will be announced later this Fall and will be held at The Allen Center for the Arts in West Newton.  These intimate concerts by Pro Arte musicians in chamber groups provide audiences with an opportunity to hear a wide variety of music from across the ages in a relaxed and informal setting.

About Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra

Pro Arte is a professional, musician-led cooperative chamber orchestra that shares its passion for music through exceptional performances that enrich, engage, and educate. The ensemble performs familiar and adventurous music in concert halls and welcoming community settings. Founded in 1978 by Harvard chaplain and visionary Larry Hill, Pro Arte is one of only four cooperative orchestras in the country. Unlike traditional orchestras, Pro Arte’s players, as well as the conductor, decide what music the Orchestra will perform and who the guest artists will be.

Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra is a member of the Newton Cultural Alliance.

Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra ensemble concerts on Sundays October 27, April 6 and June 8 at 3pm take place at The Second Church in Newton, 60 Highland Street, West Newton MA.

Musical Super Heroes on Sunday January 26 3pm takes place at Newton City Hall War Memorial Auditorium, 1000 Commonwealth Ave., Newton.

Tickets and information for all concerts can be found at www.proarte.org. 

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