Photo courtesy of the ASO
Alexandria Symphony at the George Washington Masonic Memorial
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (ASO) on Monday announced its triumphant return to the concert stage with its 2021-2022 season led by Music Director James Ross. The season offers masterworks, collaborations, a world premiere, and a timely new text for a centuries-old “Ode to Joy.”
“As we see light at the end of our tunnel of quietness, the ASO’s vision for orchestral ‘coming-together’ that remained unrealized last season can now finally blaze into full life,” Ross said. “Our season theme of ‘All Together Now’ celebrates hope, joy and renewed connection—music that binds us as one again.”
The season will launch Oct. 2 and 3 as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Ode to Joy) is presented in collaboration with the Alexandria Choral Society led by Artistic Director Brian Isaac. Soloists Dara Rahming, Marquita Raley-Cooper, Rodrick Dixon and Daniel Rich appear courtesy of the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA). Beethoven’s greatest masterpiece will be set to a new English text by former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer prize-winner Tracy K. Smith. The program will open with Bruckner’s Benedictus from Mass No. 3.
In partnership with the Alexandria Film Festival. the ASO will also present "Homegrown: Stories in Music and Film" Nov. 6 and 7. Original films that were commissioned by the ASO and produced by local artists will accompany music from the Americana tradition including Higdon’s Blue Cathedral, Copland’s Our Town and John Henry, Griffes’ Clouds, Ives’ “Housatonic at Stockbridge” and Grant Still’s “Manhattan Skyline.” The program culminates with Mussorgsky’s well-loved Pictures at an Exhibition.
On Dec. 17 and 19, the ASO brings back the joy of live holiday music that audiences yearned for in 2020. ASO will accompany dancers from BalletNOVA with selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Alexandria Choral Society joins the ASO for choruses from Händel’s Messiah and will lead the audience in popular holiday carols.
“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Jim Ross and the ASO this season and look forward to continuing our work, building community through music performance with October’s Beethoven Ninth and December’s Home for the Holidays programs,” said Alexandria Choral Society Artistic Director Brian J. Isaac. “Singing is an expression of joy, and we’re ready to share that joy publicly for the first time in over a year!”
Renowned pianist Sara Daneshpour headlines on Feb. 12 and 13, 2022 with Rachmaninov’s stirring Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. A native of Washington, D.C., Daneshpour has garnered awards internationally and received acclaim as a sought-after touring artist. Strings take center stage with Beethoven’s last string quartet, expanded for orchestra by Maestro Jim Ross. The program also features George Walker’s Lyric for Strings and Sibelius’ epic tone poem, Finlandia.
Brahms’ uplifting Symphony No. 1 provides a fitting and dramatic conclusion to the season, moving from profound sadness to unbridled joy. The performances on April 23 and 24, 2022 feature violinist Dylana Jenson, the youngest and first American woman to win a medal in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition, in Samuel Barber’s sparkling and virtuosic violin concerto. The concert opens with the world premiere of Brian Prechtl’s Tribute, commissioned for the ASO by Classical Movements’ Eric Helms New Music Program, uniting our ASO musicians onstage with students from our award-winning education program Sympatico.
October, November and December concerts will be presented with no intermission. Both performances in October will be performed at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center. Masks are strongly recommended for non-vaccinated attendees by the CDC, our concert venues and the ASO. Seating is extremely limited at George Washington Masonic Memorial. For information based on current health guidelines, please visit our website prior to each concert.
The 2021-2022 season is generously underwritten by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alexandria Commission for the Arts. Subscription packages start at $86. Adult prices start at $20, $5 for youth and $15 for students. Military, senior and group discounts are also available. Tickets go on sale August 2. Visit www.alexsym.org or call (703) 548-0885 for more information.
Here's the full schedule:
BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
James Ross, Music DirectorAlexandria Choral Society
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9, “Ode to Joy”
BRUCKNER: Benedictus from Mass No. 3
Saturday, October 2, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 3, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
James Ross, Music DirectorHomegrown: Stories in Music and Film, a partnership with the Alexandria Film Festival
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
COPLAND: John Henry and Our Town
GRIFFES: Clouds
IVES: “Housatonic at Stockbridge” from Three Places in New England
HIGDON: Blue Cathedral
GRANT STILL: “Manhattan Skyline” from American Sketches
Saturday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
Sunday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m.
George Washington Masonic Memorial
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
James Ross, Music Director
Alexandria Choral Society
BalletNova
HANDEL: Selections from Messiah
TCHAIKOVSKY: Excerpts from The Nutcracker
Sing-along holiday carols
Friday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m.Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
Sunday, Dec. 19 at 3 p.m.
George Washington Masonic Memorial
RACHMANINOV RHAPSODY
James Ross, Music DirectorSara Daneshpour, piano
RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
SIBELIUS: Finlandia
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in C-sharp minor
WALKER: Lyric for Strings
Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall
Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022 at 3 p.m.
George Washington Masonic Memorial
BARBER & BRAHMS
James Ross, Music DirectorDylana Jenson, violin
BARBER: Violin Concerto, Op. 14
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 in C minorBRIAN PRECHTL: Tribute (world premiere)
Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.
George Washington Masonic Memorial
Tickets: Adult tickets start at $20. Student tickets $15 (with ID). Youth tickets $5 The mysterious "red violin" — the very instrument that is said to have inspired the Academy Award-winning 1998 film The Red Violin — will be played live on stage as... more(age 18 and under) with adult purchase. Military, senior and group discounts available. Purchase at www.alexsym.org or call 703-548-0885.
Free parking provided by the ASO at both venues. The Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center is accessible by Metro bus lines 7A, 7B, 7F, 7Y, 25A, 25C and 25E, as well as DASH bus line AT6. The George Washington Masonic Memorial is accessible by the Blue and Yellow metro line (King Street station), numerous Metro, Dash and Richmond Highway Express bus lines, and the King Street Trolley in Old Town, Alexandria.
