

KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE
THURSDAYS AT 7:30 PM AND SATURDAYS AT 8 PM
PRE-CONCERT CHATS START ONE HOUR BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE


JULIANA PLAYS MENDELSSOHN
JAN 12 & 14
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Juliana Athayde, violin
The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair
WAGNER Lohengrin Prelude
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E Minor
BRUCKNER Symphony 6 in A Major
Beloved RPO concertmaster Juliana Athayde takes center stage alongside Music Director Andreas Delfs to exhibit her artistry in Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto – a seasoned staple of the repertoire that has frequented the concert stage for almost two centuries. Wagner’s colorful prelude to his romantic opera, Lohengrin, is just precursor to the operatic innovations that the composer would soon develop. Anton Bruckner’s dynamic, rhythmically inventive, sophisticated, and masterfully subtle 6th Symphony was described by the composer himself as “saucy.”


TCHAIKVOSKY'S "PATHÈTIQUE"
JAN 26 & 28
Andreas Delfs, conductor
RPO Soloists
Sponsored by Jon and Katherine Schumacher
HAYDN Symphony No. 44 in E Minor
SCHULHOFF Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, “Pathétique”
Music Director Andreas Delfs leads your RPO in a program featuring soloists from the orchestra. Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 is one of the composer’s few symphonies written in a minor key and the composer requested the slow movement to be played at his funeral, giving the piece the nickname of “Trauer,” or mourning. Erwin Schulhoff, a student of Debussy, was among the first classical composers to use jazz as an influence. His Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Orchestra embodies his belief that “absolute art is revolution.” Tchaikovsky’s beloved final work, his Symphony No. 6 ends the program. The piece was titled as the “passionate” symphony by the composer, then translated from Russian into French as “Pathétique.


ROOTER IN ROCHESTER:
A CELEBRATION OF BLACK COMPOSERS
FEB 9 & 11
Jeff Tyzik, conductor
Thomas Warfield, narrator
Kearstin Piper Brown, soprano
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK An American Fanfare
NKEIRU OKOYE Songs of Harriet Tubman
WILLIAM GRANT STILL Symphony No. 1 in Ab Major, “Afro-American”
JAMES LEE III Freedom’s Genuine Dawn (RPO Co-Commission)
DUKE ELLINGTON The River Suite
Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik makes a guest appearance in the Philharmonics series to conduct this special concert, a celebration of the rich history of black Rochesterians. Internationally acclaimed Rochesterians Kearstin Piper Brown and Thomas Warfield join the RPO for this program, featuring works with direct ties to our vibrant city by Adolphus Hailstork, Nkeiru Okoye, Duke Ellington, and an RPO Co-comission by James Lee III. A highlight of the night will be William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony, which was premiered in Rochester by the RPO in 1931.


MOZART & MORE
MAR 2 & 4
Mario Venzago, conductor
Jonathan Biss, piano
ROSSINI Ouverture Il Viaggio a Reims
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 7 in E Major
Conductor Mario Venzago returns to Rochester for an evening of Classical masterpieces. Renowned American pianist Jonathan Biss takes the stage for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, a piece widely recognized as one of Mozart’s concerto masterpieces. Two reconstructions bookend the concerto: Rossini’s Overture to Il Viaggio a Reims was once lost to time, only recently reconstructed by scholars; and Schubert’s Seventh Symphony only ever existed as a piano score during the composer’s lifetime. Maestro Venzago brings his own completed arrangement of Schubert’s Seventh Symphony to the stage of Kodak Hall.


STEPHEN HOUGH PLAYS BRAHMS
MAR 16 & 18
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano
Sponsored by Deborah Ronnen
DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
SCHOENBERG Verklaerte Nacht
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1 D Minor
One of the most distinctive artists of a generation, Stephen Hough joins your RPO to perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.1, a piece that is romantic, inventive, and unapologetically Brahms. The first half of the program details two different composers in the process of developing their own unique harmonic language. The first, Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, is just a precursor to the impressionist movement of which Debussy would soon be a leading figure (although he himself never fully accepted that reputation). Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, although tonal, hints at the composer’s dissatisfaction with traditional harmonic structure.


ANDREAS CONDUCTS WEST SIDE STORY
APR 13 & 15
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Zlatomir Fung, cello
CHABRIER España
LALO Cello Concerto in D Major
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
ROBERTO SIERRA Fandangos
An American masterpiece, Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story tells of cultures colliding, a theme that plays out across this program. Declared by Mahler himself to be “the start of modern music,” Chabrier’s España is paired with Lalo’s rhapsodic Cello Concerto to make up the first half of the program. The first American in four decades and the youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, Zlatomir Fung, joins the RPO as soloist. Roberto Sierra’s colorful Fandangos, a rhythmic piece inspired by the triple meter Spanish dance, follows the Bernstein to end the lively evening.


SCOTTISH FANTASY & DVOŘÁK
MAY 4 & 6
Lan Shui, conductor
Stefan Jackiw, violin
BARBER Overture to The School For Scandal
BRUCH Scottish Fantasy
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 5 in F Major
Conductor Laureate of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Honorary Conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Lan Shui, makes his RPO debut. Samuel Barber’s first-ever composition for full orchestra, the Overture to the School for Scandal, is brilliantly orchestrated and artistically unique. One of America’s foremost violinists, Stephen Jackiw, joins as soloist for Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, a piece which draws inspiration from the tunes of Scottish folk songs. The basis of folk music is echoed in the second half of the program in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 5, a piece that exemplifies the composer’s deep-rooted connection to the melodies and rhythms of his native Bohemia.


OPERA IN CONCERT: RIGOLETTO
MAY 18 & 20
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Lester Lynch, Rigoletto
Raven McMillon, Gilda
Matthew White, Duca
VERDI Rigoletto
The RPO’s Annual Opera Concert brings drama, orchestral excellence, and world-class singing to the stage of Kodak Hall with Verdi’s Rigoletto. Considered a masterwork of the operatic genre, Rigoletto tells the tragic story of the Duke of Mantua, his court jester, Rigoletto, and Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda. The opera was originally titled La maledizione, or The Curse, referencing a curse placed on Rigoletto and the Duke – thus the tragedy unfolds.


MAHLER: THE RESURRECTION SYMPHONY
JUN 1 & 3
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Rochester Oratorio Society
MAHLER Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”
One of the greatest symphonies of all time closes out your season. Completed in 1894, Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony was the first significant work exploring his lifelong perspectives of the afterlife and established him as a leading composer of his day. An all-embracing work, it is the first of Mahler’s symphonies to use voices, words, and orchestra to create a musical experience that will stay with you far beyond the concert hall. Join us as we sound the trumpets and ring the bells for this grand Season Finale!