HAMPTON ROADS, VA [SEPT. 12, 2017] — The Virginia Symphony Orchestra will open its 97th season Sept. 22-24 with a trip through the galaxy with Gustav Holst’s The Planets and a special piece that showcases the amazing talent of Newport News native Victor Wooten.
“This is going to be an electrifying opening weekend,” Music Director JoAnn Falletta said. “The musicians and I are thrilled to welcome superstar bass guitarist Victor Wooten to our stage, and to surround his artistry with celestial music by Holst and Svane in honor of NASA Langley’s 100th anniversary!”
The concert will begin with a Virginia premiere of Randall Svane’s Quantum Flight,. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Svane earned his Masters of Arts in Composition from New York University. His work has been performed by the New York Philharmonic and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra among many others.
The second piece in the program, The Bass Whisperer, is a virtuoso piece for electric bass co-written by Victor Wooten and Conni Ellisor. Wooten, named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “Top 10 Bassists of All Time,” is Newport News native and Denbigh High School graduate and has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since its formation in 1988.
Finally, as a special tribute to NASA Langley’s 100th Anniversary, the VSO will perform Holst’s The Planets. Written by English composer Gustav Holst, each of the seven movements in the orchestral suite is named after a planet in the solar system and its respective astrological character. The piece was written between 1915 and 1916 with its premiere on September 29, 1918 in Queen’s Hall in London.
Performances are Friday, Sept. 22, 8 p.m., at Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News; Saturday, Sept. 23, 8 p.m., at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk; and Sunday, Sept. 24, 2:30 p.m., at Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach.
Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased by calling 757.892.6366, visiting www.virginiasymphony.org or visiting the Virginia Symphony Box Office at 150 Boush Street, Suite 201, Norfolk, VA 23510 from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday. For group sales of 10 or more, call 757.466.3047.
The Norfolk Classics series is sponsored by Norfolk Southern. The Sept. 22 concert is presented in memory of Rona M. and Erwin B. Drucker and is sponsored by CSX. Partial support has been provided by the Business Consortium for the Arts, Newport News Arts Commission, City of Norfolk, City of Virginia Beach and the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
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Under the leadership of GRAMMY-winning music director JoAnn Falletta, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra is Virginia’s preeminent professional symphony orchestra with a mission of inspiring, educating and connecting audiences of all ages.
Founded in 1921, it is ranked in the top ten percent of professional orchestras nationwide and serves the entire Southeastern Virginia region with Classics, Pops and Family concert series in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Williamsburg as well as performances in outlying Virginia and North Carolina communities, reaching nearly 150,000 concert-goers every year. Additionally, the orchestra annually reaches 45,000 children, students and lifelong learners with its education and community programs. The Virginia Symphony has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center and is the cornerstone of the performing arts in Hampton Roads.
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September 12, 2017
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