The Columbus Symphony 2022-23 Masterworks Season

Sunny 95
When
Sep 30th, 2022 - May 20th, 2023
All Day
Where
39 East State Street ColumbusOH43215

Rossen Milanov and the Columbus Symphony Announce the 2022-23 Masterworks Season, Subscriptions On Sale Now

The Columbus Symphony and Music Director Rossen Milanov announce the 2022-23 Masterworks season, showcasing the best in orchestral music by well- established composers as well as works that will be performed for the first time on the Ohio Theatre stage. Subscriptions are on sale now.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The CSO will present 12 Masterworks programs in the 2022-23 season. Three programs will include Sunday matinee performances.
  • Accompaniment programs will continue, including Preludes, Mozart to Matisse, and the popular Friday Coffee Dress events that include complimentary coffee and donuts.
  • The 2022-23 Masterworks season will open with the tour de force of classical music, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, featuring a full orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Chorus, Columbus Children’s Choir, and internationally celebrated guest vocalists.
  • This season will shine a light on diverse artists, including works from three African American women composers—the energetic “Starburst” by Jessie Montgomery, the lyrical “Andante ma non troppo” by Florence Price, and the jazzy “Study for Orchestra” by Julia Perry.
  • Columbus’ own Aaron Diehl will perform Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F and two versions of “The Nutcracker Suite,” the original by Tchaikovsky and Duke Ellington’s jazz version.
  • Cameron Carpenter will return to Columbus following his spectacular debut with the CSO in 2020 to again perform on the Ohio Theatre’s original “Mighty Morton” theatre organ.
  • Many CSO principal musicians will take the stage as soloists, displaying the depth and range of their immense talents.
  • The orchestra and chorus celebrate the end of an era, as Chorus Director Ronald Jenkins take the podium for the last time in the grand season finale choral concert.
  • Continuing in the 2022-23 Masterworks season, all children aged 6-16 will receive free admission when accompanied by an adult.

 

ACCOMPANIMENTS

Preludes – Prior to most Masterworks performances, the CSO will offer a 30-minute, informational talk about the works or composers to be performed that evening hosted by WOSU’s Christopher Purdy, CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov, or other special guests.

Inside the Music – New for the 2022-23 season, select concerts will begin with a short video presentation about the composer featured on the program.

Friday Coffee Dress – Select Masterworks programs in 2022-23 season will offer $14 general admission tickets to Friday morning rehearsals. Complimentary coffee and donuts included.

Mozart to Matisse – The CSO and Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) will collaborate in a series of afternoon lectures that pair chamber music performances by CSO musicians with works from the CMA art collection. The presentations will focus on specific periods being presented in upcoming CSO Masterworks concerts, and explore the common themes and aesthetic influences between music and visual art.

Sunday Matinées – In the 2022-23 season, three programs will offer 2pm Sunday matinée performances.

College Club – This $25 student membership program provides unlimited access to concerts all season long, as well as special member emails and discounts for the purchase of additional student tickets.

2022-23 MASTERWORKS SEASON

 

CARMINA BURANA
Friday & Saturday, September 30 & October 1, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

Program:

  • Orff: Carmina Burana

Carl Orff’s iconic and scandalous Carmina Burana comes alive in all its splendor and opulence through a full orchestra and the angelic voices of the Columbus Symphony Chorus and Columbus Children’s Choir.

 

BRAHMS & DVOŘÁK
Friday & Saturday, November 4 & 5, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

 

Program:

  • Montgomery: “Starburst”
  • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
  • Dvořák: Symphony No. 6

Israeli born pianist Shai Wosner is featured on Brahms’ monumental second piano Concerto followed by the work that earned Antonín Dvořák international recognition, his Symphony No. 6. The program opens with Jessie Montgomery’s “Starburst,” drawing inspiration from her roots in NYC’s Lower East Side.

 

MIGHTY MORTON ORGAN FESTIVAL WITH CAMERON CARPENTER
Friday & Saturday, November 18 & 19, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

 

Program:

  • Nielsen: Overture from Masquerade
  • Poulenc: Concerto for Organ
  • Janacek: Glagolitic Mass

Iconic organist Cameron Carpenter will star in Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, showcasing the Ohio Theatre’s powerful “Mighty Morton” organ, one of the best instruments of its kind in the country.

 

WINTER FESTIVAL
Friday & Saturday, January 6 & 7, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

Program:

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from The Snow Maiden
  • Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1
  • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6

Bulgarian violinist Bella Hristova returns to perform Prokofiev’s first violin concerto. Dmitri Shostakovich’s mysterious and abstract Symphony No. 6 rebelled against the Soviet government, standing in defiance of critics tying the composer to a nationalistic cause.

 

BEETHOVEN, MOZART, HAYDN
Friday & Saturday, January 20 & 21, 7:30 pm; Sunday, January 22, 2 pm | Ohio Theatre

  • Rossen Milanov, conductor

Program:

  • Beethoven: Leonora Overture No. 3
  • Mozart: Symphony No. 36 “Linz”
  • Haydn: Symphony No. 100 “Military”

This delightful concert showcases three composers that changed music forever. Beethoven’s Lenora Overture describes the triumph of good over evil. Mozart’s light and joyous “Linz” Symphony was a grandly inventive work composed in a hurry. Haydn’s “Military” Symphony utilizes percussion, a rarity for the classical period, to mimic the sound of marching into battle.

 

DVOŘÁK’S NEW WORLD
Friday & Saturday, February 3 & 4, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

Program:

  • Simon: “This Land”
  • Barber: Violin Concerto
  • Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

Praised for her evocative lyricism and joyful, genuine approach, guest violinist Aubree Oliverson masterfully performs Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. Few pieces inspire audiences like Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, evoking the sights and sounds of the “New World” of 1893’s New York.

 

SCHUBERT SYMPHONY NO. 4 “TRAGIC”
Friday & Saturday, February 17 & 18, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

  • Rossen Milanov, conductor
  • David Thomas, clarinet

Program:

  • Price: “Andante ma non troppo” from Symphony No. 3
  • Brahms: Clarinet Sonata (Berio)
  • Schubert: Symphony No. 4 (“Tragic”)

Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Music Project during the height of the Great Depression. Johannes Brahms’ Clarinet Sonata features CSO Principal Clarinetist David Thomas in its many dramatic and sublime themes. Symphony No. 4 is one of only two symphonies Schubert composed in a minor key.

 

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 9
Friday & Saturday, March 3 & 4, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

  • Rossen Milanov, conductor

Program:

  • Mahler: Symphony No. 9

A deeply personal composition, this symphony displays all that Mahler did best. From emotional melodies to lush harmonies to large-scale structures, the work moves seamlessly between intimate sensuality and grand majesty.

 

VARIATIONS ON NUTCRACKER SUITE
Friday & Saturday, March 17 & 18, 7:30 pm; Sunday, March 19, 2 pm | Ohio Theatre

Program:

  • Perry: “Study for Orchestra”
  • Gershwin: Piano Concerto
  • Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite
  • Ellington: The Nutcracker Suite

Gershwin’s Piano Concerto represents the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life in the first movement, and the poetic, nocturnal atmosphere of the American blues in the second. Tchaikovsky’s original The Nutcracker Suite is brilliantly juxtaposed against a jazz arrangement by legendary American jazz composer Duke Ellington. The rarely performed “Study for Orchestra” by African American composer and conductor Julia Perry is sure to be a treat.

 

CARMEN SUITE
Friday & Saturday, April 14 & 15, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

  • Rossen Milanov, conductor
  • Karl Pedersen, viola

Program:

  • Fernandez: America
  • Bizet/Shchedrin: Carmen Suite
  • Berlioz: Harold in Italy

An homage to Leonard Bernstein, the energetic and playful America incorporates jazz, Latin, pop, flamenco, and contemporary themes. One of the most recognizable of operas today, Bizet’s Carmen features strings and percussion in its famous tunes such as “Habanera,” “Les Toréadors,” and “Séguedille.” Principal Viola Karl Pederson makes his solo debut performing Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, an impressionistic story of a journey in the Italian mountains.

 

RACHMANINOFF & TCHAIKOVSKY
Friday & Saturday, May 5 & 6, 7:30 pm; Sunday, May 7, 2 pm | Ohio Theatre

  • Rossen Milanov, conductor
  • Zhu Wang, piano

Program:

  • Mussorgsky: Sunrise on Moscow River
  • Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

Zhu Wang performs perhaps the most famous work in the piano concerto repertoire, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony draws parallels to Beethoven with a fate theme throughout and a general sense of movement from dark to light.

 

WELCOME TO SPRING
Friday & Saturday, May 19 & 20, 7:30 pm | Ohio Theatre

  • Ronald J. Jenkins, conductor
  • Columbus Symphony Chorus
  • Joanna Frankel, violin
  • Columbus Children’s Choir

Program:

  • Handel: Coronation Anthem No. 1
  • Elgar: Nimrod
  • Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem
  • Britten: The Building of the House
  • Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
  • Paulus: Of Songs and Singing
    • Birdsong
    • If Music Be the Food of Love  

Celebrate the end of an era as Ronald Jenkins takes the podium for his last concert as chorus director of the Columbus Symphony Chorus. Jenkins has led the all-volunteer chorus for 40 years, building it to become a mainstay of Columbus Symphony programming. This grand finale features music of Great Britain with favorites such as Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The program will also honor Memorial Day a performance of Vaughan Williams’s powerful cantata, Dona Nobis Pacem.

 

Subscriptions are on sale now and can be purchased in-person at the CBUSArts Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.ColumbusSymphony.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939.

Most packages are “select your own,” a feature designed to give patrons the ability to curate their own experience. All subscribers receive discounted tickets, free ticket exchanges, a discount on additional tickets, and other benefits depending on the package selected. Patrons may also choose to pay in two separate payments.

The following packages are available:

  • Masterworks 12 – Includes all 12 Masterworks programs, free parking for one vehicle to each concert, four free tickets for friends or family to attend any Masterworks performance, and an invitation to the 2022-23 season kick-off party. Masterworks 12 subscriptions range from $318-$902.
  • Select 10 – Includes any 10 Masterworks programs of the patron’s choice, two free tickets for friends or family to attend any Masterworks performance, and an invitation to the 2022-23 season kick-off party. Subscriptions range from $265-$752. 
  • Select 8 – Includes any eight Masterworks programs of the patron’s choice and an invitation to the 2022-23 season kick-off party. Subscriptions range from $223-$637.
  • Select 6 – Includes any six Masterworks programs of the patron’s choice. Subscriptions range from $168-$478.
  • Select 4 – Includes any four Masterworks programs of the patron’s choice. Subscriptions range from $117-$337.
  • College Club – Students that purchase a $25 College Club membership will receive one admission to each Masterworks concert in the season. Membership also includes the ability to purchase up to four additional student tickets at $8 each.

Single tickets will go on sale at 10am on Monday, June 20.