Plano Symphony Orchestra Will Move Performance Season to the Robbie and Lynore Robinson Fine Arts Center

Plano Symphony Orchestra has announced that the PSO will officially move its performance season to the Plano Independent School District’s (PISD) Robbie and Lynore Robinson Fine Arts Center beginning with the 2024/2025 Season. The inaugural performance will occur on Saturday, September 28, 2024. This opening night concert will be sponsored by Mrs. Margot Perot/The Perot Foundation in honor of Robbie and Lynore Robinson.

Music Director Héctor Guzmán has curated a spectacular season for the PSO’s inaugural season at the Robinson Fine Arts Center. The season, themed “New Beginnings,” will feature three world premieres commissioned by Dallas-based composers Robert Xavier Rodríguez, Quinn Mason, and Xi Wang. Maestro Guzmán announced the entire 2024/2025 PSO season at the Robinson Fine Arts Center, including dates and repertoire, on February 12, 2024.  

Season highlights include: 

• Ballet and Bolero! An Opening Night celebration featuring the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and a world premiere by Robert Xavier Rodríguez.
• An incredible evening of music from Elvis, Gershwin, and more during A Tribute to Elvis Presley, featuring "the Paganini of the harmonica" Robert Bonfiglio.
• A multi-media presentation of Video Games Live! featuring the Plano Symphony Orchestra with PISD choirs. 
• The annual tradition Home for the Holidays with the Plano West Chorale.
• The Beat Goes On! with the innovative percussionists Tambuco and the world premiere of Shine Time by Quinn Mason.
• A Broadway Valentine will offer classics like “Begin the Beguine” (Porter), “I Could Have Danced All Night” (My Fair Lady), “The Impossible Dream” (Man of La Mancha/Leigh), “Defying Gravity” (Wicked), and “All I Ask of You” (The Phantom of the Opera)—just to name a few—and Broadway stars Alli Mauzey, LaKisha Jones, and Jason Forbach.
• Shira Samuels-Shragg conducting Debussy’s innovative La Mer (The Sea) in An Oceanic Adventure, which also includes the winners of our Collin County Young Artist Competition. 
• Grand Finale! with returning favorite, the world-renowned pianist Alessio Bax and a world premiere by Xi Wang.

“The Robinson Fine Arts Center is named after longtime PSO supporters and Board members Lynore and Robbie Robinson whose dream was for Plano to be home to a state-of-the-art theatre/concert hall that would rival anything in the country,” said PSO Executive Director Greg Patterson. “When the Plano Independent School District opened the Center this year, the PSO was one of the first professional arts organizations approached to become a key community partner. This is a seminal moment for the PSO and our community. We are finally home, and it feels good!” 

“We are so grateful to have performed for two decades at the beautiful Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts,” said Maestro Guzmán. “Having a concert hall to call our home has been a dream of mine since we began this musical journey 40 years ago. The Robinson has excellent acoustics and will help the PSO solidify its sound. Our orchestra has grown to the point where a permanent home is the natural progression of our growth and future aspirations.” 

“The Board of Directors of the PSO sees this move to the Robinson Fine Arts Center as part of our long-term strategic plan,” said Brenda Mills, PSO Board President. “The Robinson will help solidify our musical reputation as one of the leading orchestras in the region.”

 Dr. Theresa Williams, PISD Superintendent stated, “Plano ISD is thrilled to partner with the Plano Symphony Orchestra as the primary concert site of the 2024/2025 Season. Our investment in the community includes an important and culturally rich partnership in the arts. To welcome the PSO and its supporters into arts partnership with PISD fulfills a prudent and community-focused commitment to patrons and their families who have championed the organization for decades.” 

Dr. Phillip Morgan, Director of Fine Arts and Special Academic Programs for Plano ISD reinforced this alliance and highlighted the unique benefit of the collaborative arts partnership. “The collaboration of the professional orchestra alongside our school district will have an exceptional impact on our learners in the fine arts, both in performance and hands-on engagement. Additionally, the partnership will deepen the cultural impact of the City of Plano, the greater collective of arts patrons, and to those citizens who have not experienced the brilliance of the Plano Symphony Orchestra. Season supporters and patrons in our area love the PSO and PISD. And this partnership reinforces our continuing efforts in fine arts excellence as a nationally recognized ‘Best Community for Music Education’.”