Sept 21 & 22: California Symphony Launches 2024-2025 Season with BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
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California Symphony Launches its 2024-2025 Season with BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
Opening with Louise Farrenc’s Powerful Overture No. 2
Led by Donato Cabrera, Artistic & Music Director
Featuring Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Sidney Outlaw, baritone
With the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus
Eric Choate, Director
In Concert September 21 at 7:30pm & September 22 at 4pm
At Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts
Free Public Pop Up Event with Amateur Music Network September 21 at 5pm
At Walnut Creek’s Water Light Public Plaza
California Symphony’s 2024-2025 Season Showcases the Crowning Achievements of
Composers at the Peak of Their Powers: Watch Donato Cabrera’s Introduction
Tickets & Information: www.californiasymphony.org
WALNUT CREEK, CA – California Symphony and Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera launch the 2024-2025 season, showcasing the crowning achievements of composers at the peak of their powers, with two thrilling concerts celebrating the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 4pm at Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts (1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek). The concerts open with a vivacious and powerful overture by pioneering 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc, who was well known during her lifetime but whose work is only now being performed widely. Following Farrenc’s overture is Beethoven’s instantly recognizable final symphony, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces in classical music. Powerful and uplifting, the work’s final movement Ode to Joy has become an enduring anthem for unity.
Four internationally acclaimed singers with Bay Area connections – Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Sidney Outlaw, baritone – join the California Symphony and the 100-member strong San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chorus for these performances.
California Symphony’s Saturday performance on September 21 will be preceded by a free Pop Up event in partnership with the Amateur Music Network. From 5-5:30pm at Water Light Public Plaza (1501 Locust St., Walnut Creek), Donato Cabrera will lead an open workshop of Ode to Joy for amateur musicians. Registration (which is free, but required) is open now.
“The two works I chose to begin our 2024-25 concert series not only help define and celebrate what we’re exploring throughout the entire season, but they also represent what I believe to be a defining characteristic of the California Symphony, which is a sense of adventure,” Cabrera says. “Like the uncorking of a bottle of champagne, the incredibly elegant and exuberant overture by the 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc is an intriguing introduction to a composer unfairly neglected and rarely performed. Without intermission and with a sense of audaciousness, we will dive right into the 200th anniversary performance of one of the greatest artistic creations ever conceived, the last symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. In hearing these two works in such closeness to one another, it is my hope that both equally inform and enhance the other, giving all of us a truly unique and rewarding experience."
Louise Farrenc, largely unknown in the U.S. until recent years, is considered by some to be one of France’s most gifted 19th-century musicians. Born into an artistic family – her father and brother both being Rome Prize-winning sculptors – Farrenc lived at the Sorbonne, and at age 15 became the first woman accepted to study music composition at the Paris Conservatory. She concertized throughout France for decades, and at age 38 became the only woman until the 20th century to hold the position of Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory. Farrenc wrote many pieces for piano, as well as a significant number of chamber music and orchestral works. Her bold and dynamic Overture No. 2 in E-flat, which opens California Symphony’s season, was one of her first works for orchestra, written in 1834 when she was thirty years old and already a formidable composer.
A masterpiece that celebrates our shared humanity, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was revolutionary in its time and remains one of the most iconic pieces of music in history. Not only was it longer than most symphonies that came before it, it was also the first ever to feature vocal soloists and a full choir. Composed by Beethoven when he was almost completely deaf, the Symphony is loved around the world as a symbol of unity and happiness, particularly because of the well-known setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem, Ode to Joy. As California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong puts it, “For many, that meaning is wrapped up in a hope, or even a certainty, in a future that will be better, that the human spirit will win out in the end, that if we just believe in ourselves enough, present difficulties will give way to future happiness… We are all blessed with the divine spark, Beethoven says: it is our universal, imperishable and eternal birthright. All we have to do is claim it.”
Illustrating California Symphony’s signature approach to creating vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers, the 2024-2025 season features the iconic final symphonies of titans of classical music Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the unfinished masterpieces of Anton Bruckner and Franz Schubert; a Grammy-winning Disney Fantasia-esque concerto for film and orchestra by Bay Area composer Mason Bates paired with Benjamin Britten’s lively introduction to the ensemble; a world premiere by the orchestra’s 2023-2026 Young American Composer-in-Residence Saad Haddad; a recent work by Grammy-nominated composer and Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Carlos Simon; Joaquin Rodrigo’s famous tour-de-force guitar concerto Concierto de Aranjuez; and rarely performed music by 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc and 20th-century Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz.
Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Donato Cabrera since 2013. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area. California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.
Three, four, and five-concert subscriptions start at $120 and are available now. Single tickets start at $50 and at $25 for students 25 and under. A 30-minute pre-concert talk and Q&A led by lecturer Scott Fogelsong will begin one hour before each performance. More information is available at CaliforniaSymphony.org.
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:
WHAT: California Symphony presents Beethoven’s Ninth
California Symphony and Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera launch the 2024-2025 season with two thrilling concerts celebrating the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a monumental masterpiece that celebrates our shared humanity. The concerts open with a vivacious and powerful overture by pioneering 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc, who was well known during her lifetime but whose work is only now being performed widely. Following Farrenc’s overture is Beethoven’s instantly recognizable final symphony, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces in classical music. Four internationally acclaimed singers with Bay Area connections – Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Sidney Outlaw, baritone – join the California Symphony and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chorus. Powerful and uplifting, the work’s final movement Ode to Joy has become an enduring anthem for unity.
California Symphony takes the stuffiness out of the concert experience: Take selfies at the photo booth, order a signature cocktail, and sip at your seat. Tickets include a free 30-minute pre-concert talk by award-winning instructor Scott Foglesong, starting one hour before the show.
WHEN: Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 4:00pm
WHERE: Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
CONCERT:
BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
7:30pm, Saturday, September 21
4:00pm, Sunday, September 22
Donato Cabrera, conductor
California Symphony
Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Sidney Outlaw, baritone
San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus, Eric Choate, Director
PROGRAM:
Louise Farrenc: Overture No. 2 in E-flat
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
TICKETS: Three, four, and five-concert subscriptions start at $120 and are available now. Single tickets start at $50 and at $25 for students 25 and under.
INFO: For more information or to purchase tickets, the public may visit CaliforniaSymphony.org or call the Lesher Center Ticket Office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wed – Sun, noon to 6pm).
PHOTOS: Available here.
About the California Symphony:
Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera since 2013. It is distinguished by its vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area.
California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.
Since 1991, California Symphony's three-year Young American Composer-in-Residence program has provided a composer with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with the orchestra over three consecutive years to create, rehearse, premiere, and record three major orchestra compositions, one each season. Every Composer-in-Residence has gone on to win top honors and accolades in the field, including the Rome Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Awards, and more.
The orchestra's nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds impacts students' trajectories by providing instruction for violin or cello and musicianship skills. Sound Minds has proven to contribute directly to improved reading and math proficiencies and character development, as students set and achieve goals, learn communication and problem-solving skills, and gain self-confidence. Inspired by the El Sistema program of Venezuela, the program is offered completely free of charge to the students and families of Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, California.
Through its innovative adult education program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed, California Symphony provides lifelong learners a fun-filled introduction to the orchestra and classical music. Led by celebrated educator and California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong, these live classes are held over four weeks in the summer annually and are available to stream online year-round.
In 2017, California Symphony became the first orchestra with a public statement of a commitment to diversity. Its website is available in both Spanish and English.
Reaching far beyond the performance hall, since 2020 the orchestra's concerts have been broadcast nationally on multiple radio series through Classical California (KUSC/KDFC) and the WFMT Radio Network, reaching over 1.5 million listeners across the country.
For more information, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org.
California Symphony’s 2024-25 season is sponsored by the Lesher Foundation.