Virginia Symphony Orchestra
2018-2019 Full Concert Schedule
Inspiring Transformations | ODU-VSO Side-by-Side • 2/21

Thursday, February 21, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 7:00PM
The Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Old Dominion University Symphony Orchestra are joining forces once again for an exhilarating program based on the theme of transformation. Ludwig van Beethoven’s overture for his only opera, Fidelio, underwent multiple transformations before reaching its final form; his Leonore Overture No. 3 (actually the second of four versions of this overture) exhibits much of the drama within the opera, which presents a woman who transforms her appearance to rescue her husband from prison. Les Préludes is an iconic demonstration of Franz Liszt’s signature technique of thematic transformation—the morphing of themes in different guises throughout the work. Camille Saint-Saëns, who greatly admired Liszt, incorporated thematic transformation into his entire Symphony No. 3, with its famous use of organ, played here by ODU faculty organist Dr. James Kosnik. Join us as members of the VSO help to inspire transformations among ODU’s next generation of music professionals.
Tickets: $10 general, $25 advance reserve, free for ODU students, faculty, and staff with promo code “ODUVSO” at virginiasymphony.org. Tickets reserved with promo code will be available for pick-up at Will Call with valid ODU ID card.
Gonzalo Farias, conductor
Paul Kim, conductor
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Old Dominion University Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
Liszt: Les Preludes
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, “Organ”
Serenade to Music | ODU VSO Choral Side by Side • 3/5

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 | Roper Theater, Norfolk | 7:30PM
The Virginia Symphony Chorus, directed by Robert Shoup, and the F. Ludwig Diehn Chorale, directed by Nancy K. Klein, will combine voices in a selection of choral works to delight the listener. Featuring acapella and accompanied choral selections including Ralph Williams’ “Serenade to Music,” Ariel Ramírez’s “Misa Criolla,” Aaron Copland’s “The Promise of Living.”
Tickets: $10 general, $25 advance reserve, free for ODU students, faculty, and staff with promo code “ODUVSO” at virginiasymphony.org. Tickets reserved with promo code will be available for pick-up at Will Call with valid ODU ID card.
Grieg Piano Concerto • 3/9 & 3/10

Saturday, March 9, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, March 10, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Jeffrey Biegel returns to the VSO for one of the most-loved concertos of all time, Grieg’s Piano Concerto. This concerto is among Grieg’s earliest important works and the only concerto the composer completed. Written in just a month in the summer of 1944, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 was intended to be “a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit.” This triumphant and electrifying composition has remained one of his most popular works.
JoAnn Falletta
, conductor
Bantock
: Kishmul’s Galley |
Concert Sponsor
BARBARA SPIGEL
Classics Reborn • 3/15

Friday, March 15, 2019 | Regent University, Virginia Beach | 8PM
This concert is a celebration of innovation, examining works in which each composer borrows classic forms and makes them new. The concert opens with Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn – often said to be the first independent set of variations for orchestra in the history of music. The concert then shifts to Mozart’s lovely Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra, featuring VSO principal musicians Debra Wendells Cross and Barbara Chapman. The second half opens with Puccini’s dark-hued, melodic Chrysanthemums. We close with Stravinsky’s neoclassical masterpiece, Pulcinella. This suite is from a one-act ballet with original costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso.
JoAnn Falletta
, conductor
Debra Wendells Cross
, flute
Barbara Chapman
, harp
Brahms
: Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Mozart
: Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra K. 299
Puccini
: Chrysanthemums
Stravinsky
: Pulcinella Suite
Classics Reborn • 3/16

Saturday, March 16, 2019 | Crosswalk Church, Williamsburg | 8PM
This concert is a celebration of innovation, examining works in which each composer borrows classic forms and make them new. The concert opens with Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn – often said to be the first independent set of variations for orchestra in the history of music. The concert then shifts to Mozart’s lovely Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra, featuring VSO principal musicians Debra Wendells Cross and Barbara Chapman. The second half opens with Puccini’s dark-hued, melodic Chrysanthemums. We close with Stravinsky’s neoclassical masterpiece, Pulcinella. This suite is from a one-act ballet with original costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso.
JoAnn Falletta
, conductor
Debra Wendells Cross
, flute
Barbara Chapman
, harp
Brahms
: Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Mozart
: Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra K. 299
Puccini
: Chrysanthemums
Stravinsky
: Pulcinella Suite
Classics Reborn • 3/15 & 3/16

Friday, March 15, 2019 | Regent University, Virginia Beach | 8PM
Saturday, March 16, 2019 | Crosswalk Church, Williamsburg | 8PM
This concert is a celebration of innovation, examining works in which each composer borrows classic forms and makes them new. The concert opens with Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn – often said to be the first independent set of variations for orchestra in the history of music. The concert then shifts to Mozart’s lovely Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra, featuring VSO principal musicians Debra Wendells Cross and Barbara Chapman. The second half opens with Puccini’s dark-hued, melodic Chrysanthemums. We close with Stravinsky’s neoclassical masterpiece, Pulcinella. This suite is from a one-act ballet with original costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso.
JoAnn Falletta
, conductor
Debra Wendells Cross
, flute
Barbara Chapman
, harp
Brahms
: Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Mozart
: Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra K. 299
Puccini
: Chrysanthemums
Stravinsky
: Pulcinella Suite
A Mozart Celebration • 3/21 – 3/24

Thursday, March 21, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, March 23, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Guest conductor Scott Yoo, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Mexico City Philharmonic, takes the helm of this magnificent Mozart program. Symphony No. 39 is the first of a set of three symphonies, the last set he composed. Its opening is “so majestic that it so surprised even the coldest, most insensitive listener.” The program opens with the Overture to The Magic Flute before Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, a work that blends symphony with concerto in this small-ensemble masterpiece. With its rich harmonies and incandescent themes, the work has inspired arrangers and composers for centuries. This beautiful piece, the only surviving complete concerto for this combination of instruments, features principal musicians of the VSO.
Scott Yoo
, conductor
Mozart
: Overture to The Magic Flute |
Gershwin’s Rhapsody and More! • 3/28 & 3/29

Thursday, March 28, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Friday, March 29, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Hailed “America’s Pianist,” Kevin Cole joins the VSO to pay homage to great American jazz giant George Gershwin! Chicago Tribune raves “When Cole sits down at the piano, you would swear Gershwin himself was at work… Cole stands as the best Gershwin pianist in America today.” Don’t miss this grand finale to an incredible POPS season featuring “Rhapsody in Blue” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”.
Gonzalo Farias
, conductor Kevin Cole, piano
|
An American in Paris • 3/31

Sunday, March 31, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 3PM
The School of Richmond Ballet joins the VSO for a dazzling display of dance! We’ll take a musical promenade through 1920’s Paris with a unique interpretation of one of George Gershwin’s favorite compositions, An American in Paris! You will be mesmerized by the stunning combination of music and dance.
Preconcert activities start at 2 p.m.
Gonzalo Farias, conductor
The School of Richmond Ballet
PB&J Series Sponsor:
A Night at the Movies • 4/5 – 4/7

Friday, April 5, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, April 6, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, April 7, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Join the VSO for a Night at the Movies! From the composer of the score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun’s Pipa Concerto features a first for local audiences. The pipa is a traditional Chinese four-stringed instrument, and soloist Wu Man is one of the world’s leading performers, having worked with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. John Williams’ hauntingly beautiful music from Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind will be one of the many film scores featured.
Sarah Hicks
, conductor Wu Man , pipa Prokofiev: Suite from Lieutenant Kijé, OP. 60 Tan Dun : Pipa Concerto Rota: Romeo and Juliet Suite Rózsa : Hitchcock’s Spellbound John Williams : Close Encounters |
VSS Gala: An Evening On Broadway • 4/14

Sunday, April 14, 2019 | Two Rivers Country Club, Williamsburg
The Virginia Symphony Society presents An Evening On Broadway a gala to benefit the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The program includes performances by Broadway stage star Tiffany Haus. For more information visit vasymphonysociety.com.
Mahler Symphony No. 2 • 4/18 & 4/19

Thursday, April 18, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Friday, April 19, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
The 2018-19 Classics Season comes to a close with one of the greatest symphonies of all time. Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, among his most popular and successful works during his lifetime, demonstrates his vision of beauty in the afterlife and in resurrection. Characteristic of Mahler, the symphony is written for a huge orchestra and runs the gamut of emotions in the contemplation of life and death.
JoAnn Falletta
, conductor
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Robert Shoup
, chorus master
F. Ludwig Diehn Chorale and ODU Concert Choir
Mahler : Symphony No. 2
The Music of Star Wars • 5/4

Saturday, May 4, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Back by popular demand, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra will perform music from the iconic film franchise Star Wars. Experience the entire saga through the films’ scores written by the legendary John Williams, including music from Rogue One and the recently released Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
John Williams is a fifty-time Oscar nominee for his music, and is well-known for his vast musical film credits spanning from Jaws to E.T. and Harry Potter. His score to George Lucas’s two Star Wars trilogies are widely celebrated. Williams’s Star Wars score stands out especially among the strong showing of science-fiction cinema in 1977, the year Star Wars premiere. NPR notes that “[Williams’s] mastery of melody and deftness of tone make the Star Wars scores a signal achievement in the history of cinema.”
Gonzalo Farias, conductor
Princesses and Pirates • 5/12

Sunday, May 12, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 3PM
Ahoy Mateys! Join the Virginia Symphony Orchestra on a magical journey of orchestral treasures perfect for Princesses and Pirates! This musical adventure awaits young royalty and mariners ready to discover all the excitement of the symphony! Sing along to well- known songs and movie scores by Disney and other favorites. Come dressed in your best princess or pirate costume and escape to a magical world!
Pre-concert activities start at 2 p.m.
Gonzalo Farias , conductor
PB&J Series Sponsor:
CommUNITY Play-In & Sing-Along • 9/8

Sunday, September 9, 2019 | Scope Arena, Norfolk | 4PM
Join the VSO in a celebration of brotherhood, unity, and peace in remembrance of 9-11. Created in 2017 in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, this annual event embraces our community’s cultural richness and diversity, uniting people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds through participation in music, dance and spoken word. Music will be available for any instrument at any level, so come play and sing with us!
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Rachmaninoff and Ravel • 9/13-9/15

Friday, September 13, 2019 | Ferguson Center For the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, September 14, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, September 15, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
To launch her final season as Music Director, JoAnn Falletta conducts Rachmaninoff’s famous Rhapsody On A Theme of Paganini with Chautauqua favorite, pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk (gah-vee-LOOK). Gavrylyuk has been hailed as a “true inspiration” and “easily, the most compelling pianist of his generation” – whether in performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, concerts in Europe or the Far East. To close the evening, a rare treat: excerpts from Ravel’s music for Daphnis et Chloe, originally produced by the Ballets Russes.
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suites 1 and 2
Queens of Soul • 9/20 – 9/21

Friday, September 20, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, September 21, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that’s what the “Queens of Soul” have earned selling millions of albums and countless chart-topping hits. Rock out with the full power of a symphony orchestra and vocalists on the tunes of the strongest women in musical history — including Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Nina Simone, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson, Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, and Adele. Bring your girlfriends and sing out loud and proud!
Shayna Steele, vocalist
Brahms + Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer • 10/24-10/27

Thursday, October 24, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, October 26, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, October 27, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Michael Tilson Thomas calls conductor Edwin Outwater “one of the most innovative conductors on the scene today.” Known throughout the world for reinventing the concert experience with major orchestras, Outwater collaborates for these performances with violinist, singer, and composer Caroline Shaw – who at age 30, was the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013, and who enjoys a large following both on recordings and YouTube. Equally adept at interpreting the great masterworks, Outwater concludes the evening leading Brahms’ perennial favorite Symphony No. 4.
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Caroline Shaw, composer
Beethoven: King Stephen Overture
Caroline Shaw: Other Song
Caroline Shaw: Red, Red Rose
Caroline Shaw: “Lo” (Violin solo)
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Music of Neil Diamond • 11/7 – 11/9

Thursday, November 7, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, November 9, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
One of the best-selling singer/songwriters of all time, Neil Diamond, gave us unforgettable Top Ten hits like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue,” “America” and “Desiree.” The VSO has invited Jay White, who has performed more than 2,000 Neil Diamond Las Vegas casino shows, to perform with us in a tribute show for true lovers of the Neil Diamond mystique. Jay captures Diamond’s essence and charismatic stage presence, along with an uncanny vocal and physical likeness. Backed up by the full Virginia Symphony, this is an unparalleled tribute to the man himself! The quality and depth of this show will thrill current Diamond fans and is sure to make new ones.
Mahler Symphony No. 4 • 2/21-2/23

Friday, February 21, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, February 23, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Perfoming Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
“Danzmayr has what it takes,” wrote The Chicago Tribune of David Danzmayr’s performances leading the Illinois Symphony. Last year, Danzmayr was appointed chief conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic – part of an extensive European career of concerts in venues like Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, and the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg. One of his shorter symphonies, Mahler’s fourth is that last of his so-called Wunderhorn symphonies, all based on songs from The Youth’s Magic Horn – and is one of his most popular and widely performed.
David Danzmayr, conductor
Clara Rottsolk, soprano
Mozart: Divertimento KV 136
Mozart: Voi avete un cor Fedele
Mahler: Symphony No. 4