Click the 2011-2012 Season Brochure graphic below for a downloadable PDF version
& ticket order form.
Unbridled Emotion 2011-2012 Season Subscription Concerts
1. Opening Night Gala | September 10, 2011 | 7:30 pm | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
Michael Ludwig, violin
John Stafford Smith | Star Spangled Banner Johannes Brahms | Academic Festival Overture, op.80
Henri Wieniawski | Violin Concerto, No.2, op.22, D minor Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 4, op.36, f minor
Come celebrate with Maestro Raffaele Ponti and YOUR Paducah Symphony Orchestra as we kick off our exciting new season titled, "Unbridled Emotion."
In 1879 Brahms was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau in Poland. A friend informed him that the University
expected "a Doctoral Symphony." What they received was a ten minute Academic Festival Overture. This music is arguably the composer's most ebullient work. You will not believe what he used for thematic material. The violin concerto of Wieniawski is a flash-and-dazzle concerto that puts to test violinists around the world. This virtuoso concerto draws audiences by exploiting technical excellence and indulging them with an inordinate amount of sweet, syrupy melodies. Tchaikovsky's tumultuous Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, which was composed during his short-lived marriage and amidst significant personal hardship. Symphony No. 4 is a classic, showing the emotion and color of this creative genius. This orchestra showpiece is sure to leave you on the edge of your seat.
2. Music That Is Out Of This World | October 1, 2011 | 7:30 PM | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
Elena Urioste, violin
Osvaldo Golijov | Sidereus (2010) Henry Fogel Commissioning Consortium
Felix Mendelssohn | Violin Concerto, op.64, E minor Johannes Brahms | Symphony No. 1, op.68, c minor
Sidereus is music inspired by a book by Galileo: Sidereus Nuncius or "Sidereal Messenger." (It's more commonly translated as "Starry Messenger.") He wrote it after observing the moon for the first time with the telescope. Mendessohn's Violin Concerto in E minor is a pillar of the violin repertoire, programmed in concerts great and small hundreds of times each season. The opening measures gave Mendelssohn no peace as the violin spins out a lyrical main subject. This passionate melody is the concerto's most recognizable feature, but equally attractive is the way Mendessohn develops, out of this unorthodox opening, a structure in which soloist and orchestra intertwine as one rather than simply stand in opposition to one another. Brahms once said "I will never write a symphony. You have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like him behind us." By "him" Brahms meant Beethoven. To a composer as reverent as Brahms, the works of Beethoven could be a crushing heritage. It took Brahms 12 years to
complete this magnificent work.
3. What Did Beethoven Hear? | November 5, 2011 | 7:30 PM | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
Actor as Franz Joseph Haydn (to be announced)
Franz Joseph Haydn | Symphony No. 104, D Major (London) Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony No. 8, op. 93, F major
Haydn was tremendously popular in his own lifetime. This dramatic symphony with its very high spirited Allegro shows why Haydn was the Father of the Symphony. We are fortunate to have Franz himself joining the symphony to explain his music, narrate his life and give us an insight to the man behind the music and what life was like in the 1700's. Theatre meets the Symphony at the Carson Center.
4. Home For Christmas | December 10, 2011 | 7:30 PM | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
PSO Symphony Chorus, PSO Children Chorus, PSO Youth Chorus
Bradley Almquist, Director of Choruses & Amy Aucoin, Youth Chorus Director
Anderson: Bugler's Holiday Anderson: Typewriter
Herbert: Babes in Toyland; March of the Toys Anderson: Sleigh Ride
. . . and much, much, more. Come home and kick off the holidays with this exciting performance featuring the wonderful voices of our PSO Choruses under the direction of Bradley Almquist and Amy Aucoin. This family performance will leave you singing in the isles and dancing in the streets. The kids will have a ball and there might even be a visit from someone from the North Pole. Come join in the fun with your PSO.
5. Growing Up With Wolfgang | February 18, 2012 | 7:30 PM | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
Actor as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (to be announced)
Wolfgang Mozart | Symphony No.1, K.16, E-flat major Wolfgang Mozart | Symphony No. 35, K.385, D major (Haffner)
Wolfgang Mozart | Symphony No. 31, K.551, C major (Jupiter)
Who killed Mozart? Who was the black-clad stranger? If you've ever wanted to know the real life story of one of the greatest composers of all times, come and meet Wolfgang himself as he joins the symphony on stage and lets us in on all the mysteries of his wonderful but short lived life. Theatre meets the symphony at the Carson Center.
6. Struggle And Triumph | March 17, 2012 | 7:30 PM | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
PSO 2012 Young Artist Competition Winners | Instrumental and Piano Division Concertos
PSO Youth String Orchestra | String Students perform Side-by-side with the PSO.
Beethoven | Symphony No. 5, op.67, c minor
Come and meet our future. The PSO Youth String Orchestra join us for this annual concert to showcase our bright future: OUR Children. They will perform side-by-side with our Paducah Symphony Orchestra and make glorious music together that will raise the roof off the Carson Center. We also debut the two PSO Young Artist Competition Winners for 2012. The program concludes with a classic. No composer was more committed to the struggle of mankind. Bach wrote for the Glory of God, Mozart because genius must out (and because he had to eat), Beethoven to impose his will on the world. Hear fate knocking and experience one of classical music's most famous symphonies. Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
7. A Night At The Opera | April 21, 2012 | 7:30 PM | Carson Center- Paducah, Kentucky
PSO Symphony Chorus, PSO Children Chorus, PSO Youth Chorus
Bradley Almquist, Director of Choruses & Amy Aucoin, Youth Chorus Director
Enjoy an evening full of tragedy, love, joy, hatred, denial, fun and adventure. Travel the world and experience the greatest moments in opera with music of Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, Bizet, Leoncavallo, Rossini and Wagner. No passport needed and we promise not to lose your luggage. Enjoy your trip.
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