7.29.19 | Virginia Symphony Orchestra Single Tickets on Sale Today!

HAMPTON ROADS, VA [July 29, 2019] – Single tickets for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s 2019-2020 season are on sale as of today, Monday, July 29, 2019.

In its 99th season, the orchestra will present Classical and POPS concerts in ten venues across Hampton Roads. Individual ticket prices range from $25 to $110. Season Tickets are available for purchase by section and range between $92 and $790.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 757.892.6366, visit www.virginiasymphony.org or stop by 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 757.213.1413.

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As the region’s most celebrated musical, educational and entrepreneurial arts organization, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra continues to challenge expectations and push the boundaries of what an American orchestra can be – even as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2020.

At the heart of the VSO’s narrative is innovation. In 1999 the VSO made a very bold move in appointing the gifted young American conductor JoAnn Falletta as its music director. Since then, the orchestra has received national attention for its unique mission serving a home area of 1.7 million across the diverse communities of southeastern Virginia. Through appearances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and commitment to adventurous programming, the VSO and its musicians have been highlighted in the media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and BBC Worldwide News.

As the largest arts performing organization in southeastern Virginia, the VSO and VSO Chorus present more than 150 concerts and events to educate, enlighten and entertain more than 100,000 residents and visitors each year. Recent innovations include health and wellness programs, including interactive therapeutic experiences for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. As it approaches its Centennial year, the Orchestra and its legions of fans look forward with anticipation as the VSO conducts a worldwide search for its next music director.

For information about the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, visit virginiasymphony.org.

2019-2020 Season at the Glance

RACHMANINOFF AND RAVEL

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. 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.

POPS: QUEENS OF SOUL

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!

BRAHMS – PLUS PULITZER PRIZE WINNING COMPOSER

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.

POPS: THE MUSIC OF NEIL DIAMOND

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, and 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.

VIVALDI

Thursday, November 21, 2019 | Regent University, Virginia Beach | 7:30PM
Saturday, November 23, 2019 | CrossWalk Church, Williamsburg | 7:30PM

Returning to the VSO stage, popular former Resident Conductor Benjamin Rous opens the 2019-2020 Regent Classics Series with a concerto that deserves to be singled out among the hundreds that Vivaldi wrote. VSO’s own take center stage in Vivaldi’s electrifying Concerto for Two Cellos. Additional works by Vivaldi and other masters of the Baroque era, round out this energetic, fast-paced program.

POPS: HOLIDAY POPS!

Join us for the must-see holiday tradition of the season – Holiday Pops! There’s no better way to lift your spirits than with seasonal songs and traditional carols delivered in full sound and spectacle by the Virginia Symphony, the inspirational voices of Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus and special guests. Holiday Pops will have all the magical elements you’ve come to expect — high energy, familiar carols and lots of holiday warmth! And we’ll even throw in a surprise or two! We can’t wait to celebrate the season together!

HOLIDAY BRASS

Wednesday, December 18, 2019 | Saint Bede Catholic Church, Williamsburg | 7:30PM

The bold sounds of the Virginia Symphony brass section ring in the holidays with a blast! Experience the festive sounds of the season in a concert filled with wit, virtuosity, and the glorious music of the holidays — featuring the VSO brass and percussion sections in an all-new program. You’ll enjoy music from a variety of styles that have made this concert a new holiday tradition!

HANDEL’S MESSIAH

As legend has it, divine inspiration may have played a hand in Handel’s 1741 composition of what has become his most famous work. Not only did he write the massive score in just over three weeks’ time – there is a long-held story that the popular “Hallelujah” chorus was itself inspired by a vision of heaven and its angels revealed to Handel as he wrote it. VSO Chorus Director Robert Shoup conducts the VSO Chorus and four fabulous soloists for this holiday masterpiece.

BERLIOZ SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

Glasgow-born conductor Douglas Boyd enjoyed a stellar career as a world-renowned oboist, before stepping away after 21 years to begin an international career as conductor. Currently, Boyd is Music Director of the L’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris as well as Artistic Director of the summer opera festival, Garsington Opera, in Buckinghamshire, England. Boyd has conducted all the BBC Orchestras, as well as orchestras throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States. For his debut performances in Hampton Roads, Boyd conducts Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, a romantic symphonic portrayal of the gifted artist’s challenges with unrequited love.

MOZART

Thursday, February 6, 2020 | Regent University, Virginia Beach | 7:30PM
Saturday, February 8, 2020 | CrossWalk Church, Williamsburg | 7:30PM

From the opening notes of the charming overture to Mozart’s final opera, this concert will be a thrill for lovers of that ever-popular composer. The VSO welcomes for the first time 22-year-old violin prodigy Randall Goosby, who made his first solo appearance with a professional orchestra when he was only nine. Since that debut, he’s been the winner of numerous prizes including firsts with Young Concert Artists and the Sphinx Competition and has studied with renowned masters of the violin including Itzhak Perlman. The concert will close with Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony, not only that composer’s largest and most complex symphony but regarded by many as one of the greatest symphonies of all time. Don’t miss this blockbuster evening!

POPS: DANCING AND ROMANCING

Thursday, February 13, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Friday, February 14, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM

You’ll be transported back to a place and time when dancing and romancing were king, with magical songs such as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Singing in the Rain,” “All That Jazz,” “In the Mood,” “That Old Black Magic,” and many more romantic, dance-filled favorites. Broadway and Hollywood combine for a romantic and entertaining evening of song and dance with two veterans of the Broadway stage. Inspired by the likes of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly, this evening will put a song in your heart and have you dancing in the aisles!

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 4

“Danzmayr has what it takes,” wrote The Chicago Tribune of David Danzmayr’s performance 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. Joining Danzmayr for these performances is the brilliant American soprano Clara Rottsolk. 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 his most popular and widely performed.

STRAVINSKY FIREBIRD

Chicago-born conductor Fawzi Haimor has established an extensive international career with some of world’s great orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, and just last summer, the Grant Park Symphony in his native Chicago. He is currently music director of the Württembergische Philharmonie. For his VSO debut, Haimor celebrates the Centennial of Stravinsky’s The Firebird, along a first Hampton Roads performance from Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavarra – his popular Cantus Articus, or Concerto for Birds and Orchestra featuring birdsong recorded at the Finnish Artic Circle.

STRAUSS

Friday, March 13, 2020 | Regent University, Virginia Beach | 7:30PM
Saturday, March 14, 2020 | Jamestown High School, Williamsburg | 7:30PM

Join JoAnn Falletta as she makes her final appearance on the podium at Regent University as VSO Music Director. From JoAnn herself: “My years with our beloved Regent University audience has been the happiest time of my life. As my last concert in this series, I have picked a favorite composer – Richard Strauss – and one of the brilliant stars of the VSO- hornist Jacob Wilder – to say farewell to my wonderful friends.” It will be a special night of appreciation and celebration to remember!

POPS: THE STEISAND SONGBOOK

Friday, March 20, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, March 21, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM

Join the Virginia Symphony as we celebrate the music of one of America’s most powerful and enduring musical artists. Singing timeless classics from five decades of Barbra Streisand’s multi-faceted career, Platinum Award Winning singer-songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway will show off her gorgeous voice with iconic hits like “The Way We Were,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “Cry Me a River.” Calloway, who was named Broadwayworld.com Performer of the Year, is a master of Streisand’s style and of the American songbook. Don’t miss her stellar first performance with the VSO!

STRAUSS ROSENKAVALIER SUITE

From the much-loved waltzes made famous in Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier, to Robert Schumann’s one and only piano concerto, JoAnn Falletta has chosen a wide-ranging program of classics to show-off the orchestra and soloist next spring, including French pianist Prisca Benoit – known for a refined pianistic touch with a wide range of countless colors. Benoit continues the Orchestra’s collaboration with Sentara Healthcare’s “Music and Medicine” Program. The Schumann concerto will be recorded for later release as a CD.

SHOSTAKOVICH FIVE

Hailed by The New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” conductor Eric Jacobsen returns to the VSO in the new season to lead one of the 20th Century’s tour de force masterpieces – Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with his innovative and collaborative programming, and in addition to the Shostakovich, Jacobsen will conduct the beautiful Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, with violinist Alexi Kenney, a recipient of a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Kenney has been named “a talent to watch” by The New York Times, which also noted his “architect’s eye for structure and space and a tone that ranges from the achingly fragile to full-bodied robustness.”

SPECIAL: BEETHOVEN “EMPEROR” AND SYMPHONY NO. 9 “CHORAL”

JoAnn Falletta finishes her final season as Music Director with a history-making performance celebrating Beethoven’s 250th Year, in performances presented by the Virginia Arts Festival. For these concerts, Falletta will be joined by renowned pianist Olga Kern, who will perform Beethoven’s well-known “Emperor” Concerto. Kern is the recently appointed Connie and Mark Jacobson Director of Chamber Music for the Arts Festival. Following intermission, Falletta will be joined by four soloists and full VSO Chorus for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the “Choral” Symphony.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 29, 2019

Contact: Monica Meyer, Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Public Relations
Phone: 757.213.1431 | email: mmeyer@virginiasymphony.org

Contact: Peyton Carter, Manager of Digital Media Strategies and Patron Loyalty
Phone: 757.213.1420 | email: pcarter@virginiasymphony.org

Twitter: @VASymphony
Facebook: facebook.com/virginiasymphony

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Eric Jacobsen

Hailed by the New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming. He is the newly-named Music Director of the Virginia Symphony, becoming the 12th music director in the orchestra’s 100-year history, and will assume that post on July 1.

Jacobsen is Artistic Director and conductor of The Knights, and serves as the Music Director for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Jacobsen founded the adventurous orchestra The Knights with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, to foster the intimacy and camaraderie of chamber music on the orchestral stage. As conductor, Jacobsen has led the “consistently inventive, infectiously engaged indie ensemble” (New York Times) at Central Park’s Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival, (Le) Poisson Rouge, the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center; at major summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Ojai; and on tour nationally and internationally, including at the Cologne Philharmonie, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Salzburg Großes Festspielhaus, Vienna Musikverein, National Gallery of Dublin, and the Dresden Musikfestspiele. Recent collaborators include violinists Itzhak Perlman and Gil Shaham, singers Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, and Nicholas Phan, and pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Also in demand as a guest conductor, Jacobsen has led the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Detroit, the New World, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck and the Tonkunstler Orchestra, with whom Jacobsen appeared at Vienna’s legendary Musikverein.

In the coming season, Eric Jacobsen returns to the Detroit Symphony for the world premiere of James Lee III’s “Amer’ican,” a contemporary response to Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony which also features on the program. He also makes his La Jolla Summerfest debut, conducting three concerts featuring Summerfest Artistic Director Inon Barnaton and other artists. He appears twice with the Virginia Symphony, with guest artist Branford Marsalis and also performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and travels to Bilkent, Turkey, to appear with the orchestra there. With The Knights, he returns to the Tanglewood and Caramoor Festivals and to Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell, and appears at Wolf Trap in a new piece by Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan. In the spring, Jacobsen and The Knights close their season with a multi-city US tour featuring pianist Aaron Diehl.

The 21-22 Orlando Philharmonic season sees the return of the “Resonate” festival, a unique blend of old and new orchestral and chamber works, performed in standard and more intimate concert formats. This season’s edition features Artist-in-Residence Stewart Goodyear performing the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven as well as orchestral repertoire. The Orlando season will close with a semi-staged production of Orff’s “Carmina burana,” with staging by Alison Moritz and choreography by John Heginbotham.

In recent seasons, Eric Jacobsen and The Knights performed a fully-staged centennial production of Bernstein’s Candide directed by Alison Moritz at the Ravinia Festival, and toured Florida with Gil Shaham. With mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, Jacobsen and The Knights undertook a 15-concert European tour, including performances at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Vienna’s Musikverein. In New York, Jacobsen and The Knights performed at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall; with groundbreaking countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo at National Sawdust in music of Handel and Philip Glass; and at the Park Avenue Armory, where they helped create the music for William Kentridge’s The Head and the Load. With the Bridgeport Symphony, Jacobsen performed with his brother Colin, with whom he recorded a video of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending that was featured on London’s Classic FM and The Violin Channel.

At the close of a successful sixth season with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacobsen has continued to pioneer the orchestra’s programming and community engagement in new and exciting directions. During the 20-21 season, the Orlando Philharmonic was one of the few orchestras internationally that was able to perform live concerts, including with renowned pianist Yuja Wang, and they closed their season with “America, Come,” an Orlando Philharmonic commission from Aoife O’Donovan honoring the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Previous seasons included Inside the Score, in which Jacobsen led the audience on a guided exploration of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique; appearances by multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón as composer-in-residence; and guest appearances by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens and internationally acclaimed cello virtuoso Jan Vogler.

Under Jacobsen’s baton, The Knights have developed an extensive recording collection, which includes the critically acclaimed albums Azul, with longtime collaborator Yo-Yo Ma, as well as the Prokofiev Concerto in the Grammy-nominated Gil Shaham album 1930s Violin Concertos. Their most recent release, featuring Gil Shaham in performances of the Beethoven and Brahms Violin Concertos, was met with critical acclaim upon its release in Spring 2020. The Knights issued three albums for Sony Classical including Jan Vogler and The Knights Experience: Live from New York; New Worlds, and an all-Beethoven album, as well as the “smartly programmed” (National Public Radio) A Second in Silence on the Ancalagon label. Jacobsen’s first release on Warner Classics was the ground beneath our feet. We Are The Knights, a documentary film produced by Thirteen/WNET, premiered in September 2011.

In December 2012, Jacobsen and his brother Colin were selected from among the nation’s top visual, performing, media, and literary artists to receive a prestigious United States Artists Fellowship. Eric splits his time between New York and Orlando with his wife, singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan, and their daughter.

VSO Guest Artist: Andrew von Oeyen

Hailed worldwide for his elegant and insightful interpretations, balanced artistry and brilliant technique, Andrew von Oeyen has established himself as one of the most captivating pianists of his generation.

Since his debut at age 16 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mr. von Oeyen has extended his interpretive voice to a broad spectrum of repertoire as both a soloist and recitalist. He has collaborated with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Marseille, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Spoleto USA Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic and Slovak Philharmonic. As both soloist and conductor he has led concerti and orchestral works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel and Kurt Weill. On July 4, 2009, he performed at the U.S. Capitol with the National Symphony in “A Capitol Fourth,” reaching millions worldwide in the multi-award winning PBS live telecast.

‍Mr. von Oeyen has appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall in London, Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Boston’s Symphony Hall, Zürich’s Tonhalle, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, St. Petersburg’s Philharmonia, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Sala São Paulo, Teatro Olimpico in Rome, in Mexico City, Hanoi, Macau, and in every major concert hall of Japan and South Korea. Festival appearances include Aspen, Ravinia, Grant Park, Mainly Mozart, Saratoga, Schubertiade, Spoleto, Brevard, Grand Teton, Chautauqua and the Mariinsky’s “Stars of the White Nights.”

Mr. von Oeyen has recorded for Warner Classics since 2017. His albums under that label, including works for piano and orchestra by Saint-Saëns, Ravel and Gershwin and a disc including Debussy’s Fantaisie pour Piano et Orchestre, have been met with critical acclaim. Mr. von Oeyen has also recorded award-winning recital albums of Liszt, Debussy, and Stravinsky under the Delos label.

Mr. von Oeyen, of German and Dutch origin, was born in the U.S. He began his piano studies at age 5 and made his solo orchestral debut at age 10. An alumnus of Columbia University and graduate of The Juilliard School, where his principal teachers were Herbert Stessin and Jerome Lowenthal, he also worked with Alfred Brendel and Leon Fleisher. He won the prestigious Gilmore Young Artist Award in 1999 and also took First Prize in the Léni Fé Bland Foundation National Piano Competition in 2001. Mr. von Oeyen lives in Paris and Los Angeles.

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7.29.19 | Virginia Symphony Orchestra Single Tickets on Sale Today!

2019-2020 Season at the Glance

RACHMANINOFF AND RAVEL

POPS: QUEENS OF SOUL

BRAHMS – PLUS PULITZER PRIZE WINNING COMPOSER

POPS: THE MUSIC OF NEIL DIAMOND

VIVALDI

POPS: HOLIDAY POPS!

HOLIDAY BRASS

HANDEL’S MESSIAH

BERLIOZ SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

MOZART

POPS: DANCING AND ROMANCING

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 4

STRAVINSKY FIREBIRD

STRAUSS

POPS: THE STEISAND SONGBOOK

STRAUSS ROSENKAVALIER SUITE

SHOSTAKOVICH FIVE

SPECIAL: BEETHOVEN “EMPEROR” AND SYMPHONY NO. 9 “CHORAL”

Tone Poem

What is a tone poem?

Symphony

What is a symphony?

Viola

What is a viola?

Concerto

What is a concerto?

How do you pronounce "Concerto"?

Is the soloist part of the orchestra?

How do you choose the music/soloist?

Zacherie Small

Omari Imhotep Abdul-Alim

Emmanuel Losa

Avery Robinson

Simone Paulwell

Eric Jacobsen

STAR OF BROADWAY MUSICALS THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS, THE COLOR PURPLE, THE LION KING, and RAGTIME

STAR OF BROADWAY MUSICALS SHOW BOAT, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, and THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE

STAR OF BROADWAY MUSICALS THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, EVITA, THE WOMAN IN WHITE and BOMBAY DREAMS

STAR OF BROADWAY MUSICALS THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS, THE COLOR PURPLE, THE LION KING, and RAGTIME

STAR OF BROADWAY MUSICALS THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS, THE COLOR PURPLE, THE LION KING, and RAGTIME

VSO Guest Artist: Andrew von Oeyen