Columbus Symphony's Masterworks Season Continues Into 2023

The Columbus Symphony's 2022-23 Masterworks Season continues into the new year, showcasing the best in orchestral music by composers including Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Mahler, Schubert and many more, as well as works that will be performed for the first time on the Ohio Theatre stage.

Single tickets can be purchased in-person at the CBUSArts Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.columbussymphony.com or www.CBUSArts.com or by phone at (614) 469-0939. Subscription packages are available at www.columbussymphony.com.

The CSO offers a range of affordable options to make Masterworks performances accessible. Ticket prices start at just $10. All children ages 6-16 receive free admission when accompanied by an adult.

In addition, the CSO's College Club membership provides access to Masterworks concerts throughout season for $25.

"We want to remove barriers to our flagship Masterworks programs, so we can impact our community in the most positive way and give everyone the opportunity to experience the inspiration of live classical music," said Daniel Walshaw, Chief Operating Officer of the Columbus Symphony.

Masterworks concerts also feature Preludes, a 30-minute, pre-concert informational talk about the works or composers to be performed that evening, hosted by WOSU's Christopher Purdy, CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov, or other special guests.

WINTER FESTIVAL

Friday & Saturday, January 6 & 7, 7:30 pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Bella Hristova, violin

Program:

Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from The Snow Maiden

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6

Bulgarian violinist Bella Hristova returns to perform Prokofiev's first violin concerto. Dmitri Shostakovich's mysterious and abstract Symphony No. 6 rebelled against the Soviet government, standing in defiance of critics tying the composer to a nationalistic cause.

Prelude: Join Music Director Rossen Milanov for a pre-concert talk starting at 6:30 pm.

Friday Coffee Dress: January 6 at 10 am. (General admission tickets to Friday morning rehearsals are $14. Complimentary coffee and donuts included.)

BEETHOVEN, MOZART, HAYDN

Friday & Saturday, January 20 & 21, 7:30 pm

Sunday, January 22, 2 pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Program:

Beethoven: Leonora Overture No. 3

Mozart: Symphony No. 36 "Linz"

Haydn: Symphony No. 100 "Military"

This delightful concert showcases three composers that changed music forever. Beethoven's Lenora Overture describes the triumph of good over evil. Mozart's light and joyous "Linz" Symphony was a grandly inventive work composed in a hurry. Haydn's "Military" Symphony utilizes percussion, a rarity for the classical period, to mimic the sound of marching into battle.

Prelude: Join Music Director Rossen Milanov for a pre-concert talk starting at 6:30 pm.

DVOŘÁK'S NEW WORLD

Friday & Saturday, February 3 & 4, 7:30 pm

Ohio Theatre

David Alan Miller, conductor

Aubree Oliverson, violin

Program:

Simon: "This Land"

Barber: Violin Concerto

Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"

Praised for her evocative lyricism and joyful, genuine approach, guest violinist Aubree Oliverson masterfully performs Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto. Few pieces inspire audiences like Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, evoking the sights and sounds of the "New World" of 1893's New York.

Prelude: Join Christopher Purdy for a pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm.

Friday Coffee Dress: February 3 at 10 am. (General admission tickets to Friday morning rehearsals are $14. Complimentary coffee and donuts included.)

schubert symphony no. 4 "tragic"

Friday & Saturday, February 17 & 18, 7:30 pm
Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

David Thomas, clarinet

Program:

Price: "Andante ma non troppo" from Symphony No. 3

Brahms: Clarinet Sonata (Berio)

Schubert: Symphony No. 4 ("Tragic")

Florence Price's Symphony No. 3 was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Music Project during the height of the Great Depression. Johannes Brahms' Clarinet Sonata features CSO Principal Clarinetist David Thomas in its many dramatic and sublime themes. Symphony No. 4 is one of only two symphonies Schubert composed in a minor key.

Prelude: Join Music Director Rossen Milanov for a pre-concert talk starting at 6:30 pm.

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 9

Friday & Saturday, March 3 & 4, 7:30 pm
Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Program:

Mahler: Symphony No. 9

A deeply personal composition, this symphony displays all that Mahler did best. From emotional melodies to lush harmonies to large-scale structures, the work moves seamlessly between intimate sensuality and grand majesty.

Prelude: Join Music Director Rossen Milanov for a pre-concert talk starting at 6:30 pm.

VARIATIONS ON NUTCRACKER SUITE

Friday & Saturday, March 17 & 18, 7:30 pm

Sunday, March 19, 2 pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Aaron Diehl, piano

Program:

Perry: "Study for Orchestra"

Gershwin: Piano Concerto

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite

Ellington: The Nutcracker Suite

Gershwin's Piano Concerto represents the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life in the first movement, and the poetic, nocturnal atmosphere of the American blues in the second. Tchaikovsky's original The Nutcracker Suite is brilliantly juxtaposed against a jazz arrangement by legendary American jazz composer Duke Ellington. The rarely performed "Study for Orchestra" by African American composer and conductor Julia Perry is sure to be a treat.

Special thanks to Graves Piano.

Prelude: Join Music Director Rossen Milanov and Aaron Diehl for a pre-concert talk starting at 6:30 pm.

CARMEN SUITE

Friday & Saturday, April 14 & 15, 7:30 pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Karl Pedersen, viola

Program:

Fernandez: America

Bizet/Shchedrin: Carmen Suite

Berlioz: Harold in Italy

An homage to Leonard Bernstein, the energetic and playful America incorporates jazz, Latin, pop, flamenco, and contemporary themes. One of the most recognizable of operas today, Bizet's Carmen features strings and percussion in its famous tunes such as "Habanera," "Les Toréadors," and "Séguedille." Principal Viola Karl Pederson makes his solo debut performing Berlioz's Harold in Italy, an impressionistic story of a journey in the Italian mountains.

Prelude: Join Music Director Rossen Milanov for a pre-concert talk starting at 6:30 pm.

RACHMANINOFF & TCHAIKOVSKY

Friday & Saturday, May 5 & 6, 7:30 pm

Sunday, May 7, 2 pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Zhu Wang, piano

Program:

Mussorgsky: Sunrise on Moscow River

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

Zhu Wang performs perhaps the most famous work in the piano concerto repertoire, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony draws parallels to Beethoven with a fate theme throughout and a general sense of movement from dark to light.

Special thanks to Graves Piano.

Prelude: Join Christopher Purdy from WOSU Classical 101 for a pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm.

This concert is dedicated in memory of Joseph "Jay" E. Suiter.

WELCOME TO SPRING

Friday & Saturday, May 19 & 20, 7:30 pm

Ohio Theatre

Ronald J. Jenkins, conductor

Columbus Symphony Chorus

Joanna Frankel, violin

Columbus Children's Choir

Program:

Handel: Coronation Anthem No. 1

Elgar: Nimrod

Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem

Britten: The Building of the House

Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending

Paulus: Of Songs and Singing

Birdsong

If Music Be the Food of Love

Celebrate the end of an era as Ronald Jenkins takes the podium for his last concert as chorus director of the Columbus Symphony Chorus. Jenkins has led the all-volunteer chorus for 40 years, building it to become a mainstay of Columbus Symphony programming. This grand finale features music of Great Britain with favorites such as Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations. The program will also honor Memorial Day a performance of Vaughan Williams's powerful cantata, Dona Nobis Pacem.

Prelude: Join Christopher Purdy from WOSU Classical 101 for a pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm.

This concert and continued support for the Columbus Symphony Chorus is made possible by longtime friend of the Columbus Symphony, Anne H. Melvin.

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