The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Announces 2014-2015 Season

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) President and CEO Stanley E. Romanstein, Ph.D., Music Director Robert Spano, and Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles today announced the ASO's 2014-15 season - the Orchestra's 70th season and Mr. Spano's and Mr. Runnicles's 14th as artistic partners. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is one of America's leading orchestras. It performs great music, presents leading artists, nurtures young talent, and engages music lovers. The 24-week subscription season will feature world-class music of past centuries while paving the way for great music of the future with performances by today's leading composers, soloists, and conductors.

"Working with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is a joy. After 14 years as Music Director, Atlanta is home, and I find the experience onstage with our superb musicians and enthusiastic audiences as exhilarating now as on opening night in 2001," said Music Director Robert Spano. "I am extremely fortunate to have a colleague and a friend in our Principal Guest Conductor, Donald Runnicles. Next season, I look forward to sharing new works with Atlanta audiences from American composers Michael Gandolfi, Christopher Theofanidis, Jonathan Leshnoff and Avner Dorman. Continuing our operatic adventures, we will perform Saint-Sae?ns's masterpiece, Samson et Dalila, with a star-studded cast. We are also thrilled to welcome guest conductor Marin Alsop back to Atlanta, as well as returning ASO favorites including Lang Lang, Emanuel Ax, Lynn Harrell, and Kelley O'Connor. The season, of course, will showcase our extraordinary ASO musicians, and our legendary ASO Chorus will be featured in Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9."

"It's hard to believe I am already fourteen years into this unique partnership with Robert Spano and this Orchestra," said Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles. "Collaborating with the musicians of the Orchestra and with my friend Robert continues to be very fulfilling and exciting. There is still so much ahead of us - this year, exploring the music of Beethoven with the Orchestra and Chorus, and unveiling the powerful music of Mahler. I am very much looking forward to sharing another astounding season of music-making with the people of Atlanta."

"There is nothing like a live musical performance. The Orchestra's energy, passion, and creativity continues to thrive under Robert Spano and Donald Runnicles," said Atlanta Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Stanley E. Romanstein, Ph.D. "We are excited for all that is ahead of us, and we are delighted to be sharing this 70th anniversary season of diverse musical experiences with our community of music lovers."

The season opens on Thursday, September 25, 2014, with Mr. Spano leading the Orchestra in a weekend of performances featuring pianist Jeremy Denk playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20; also on the program is Mozart's Symphony No. 35, "Haffner," and Strauss's Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel.

Mr. Runnicles will lead the Orchestra in a two-part mini-Beethoven Festival October 2-11, 2014. Part I will feature pianist Jonathan Biss playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, as well as Symphony No. 9 with soprano Angela Meade, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Russell Thomas, and bass Nathan Berg. Part II of the festival will feature violinist Nicola Benedetti playing Beethoven's Violin Concerto. Mr. Runnicles will also lead the Orchestra in Symphony No. 6, "Pastorale."

The Orchestra will perform three world premieres in the 2014-15 season, including two new works by Atlanta School of Composers members Christopher Theofanidis and Michael Gandolfi. The third world premiere is by Jonathan Leshnoff.

Jonathan Leshnoff's new work, Symphony No. 2, "Innerspace," is an ASO commission and will be premiered November 13 and 15, 2014. Christopher Theofanidis's new work, Creation/Creator, will be premiered April 23 and 25, 2015. The world premiere of the piece will mark the culmination of a unique partnership between the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Emory University, and the Georgia Humanities Council. Interweaving text and ideas from philosophy, science, religion, poetry, and literature, Mr. Theofandis says the work will give us a "profoundly deeper understanding of the relationship between these two subjects and will remove a limiting sense of a passive relationship between 'God' and humanity." Michael Gandolfi's new work, Sinfonia Concertante, will be premiered April 30 and May 2, 2015, and has been commissioned to honor Robert Spano's parents. The work will feature four ASO musicians: Principal Oboe Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, Principal Bassoon Designate Keith Buncke, Principal Clarinet Laura Ardan, and Principal Horn Brice Andrus.

The 2014-15 season will bring four ASO musicians to center stage to perform concertos with the Orchestra: Principal Percussion Thomas Sherwood and Percussionist Charles Settle will perform Avner Dorman's Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! in October; Principal Clarinet Laura Ardan will perform the Copland Clarinet Concerto in November; Concertmaster David Coucheron will play Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in February.

A series of pre-concert chamber music performances featuring ASO musicians will continue in 2014- 15. ASO Insider and Program Annotator Ken Meltzer and members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will host pre-concert chamber music recitals from 6:45-7:30 p.m. in Atlanta Symphony Hall at select orchestra concerts. The recitals are free and open to all ticket holders for the subscription weekend performances.

The Orchestra will close the season with a performance of Saint-Sae?ns's Samson et Dalila, led by Mr. Spano, June 4 and 6, 2015. The cast features Stephanie Blythe (Dalila), Stuart Skelton (Samson), Greer Grimsley (High Priest), and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

In Fall 2014, the Orchestra will release its fifth recording on its own record label, ASO Media. The all- Vaughan Williams release will feature Mr. Spano leading the Orchestra in The Lark Ascending, with ASO Concertmaster David Coucheron as soloist, as well as Dona nobis pacem, featuring soprano Jessica Rivera, baritone Brett Polegato, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. The composer's Fourth Symphony will also be included on the album.

The Orchestra's "First Friday" classical concerts will continue to be held at 6:30 p.m. in Atlanta Symphony Hall on the first Friday of each month. These concerts, which last approximately one hour without intermission, feature abbreviated versions of that week's subscription performances.

The Atlanta Symphony will expand its relationships with Kennesaw State University (KSU) and the University of Georgia (UGA) in the 2014-15 season. The ASO will perform three concerts at each of the university's campuses while also offering master classes and additional activities. The Atlanta Symphony will also offer discounted tickets for KSU and UGA students to most Delta Classical concerts. A list of concerts and purchase instructions can be found at aso.org/kennesaw and aso.org/uga.

Along with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's classical concerts, the Orchestra also offers orchestral POPS!, Family, and community programming, as well as the annual Coca-Cola Holiday concerts.

Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski will open the POPS! season October 24-25, 2014, with the ASO and award-winning actor and comedian Jason Alexander. Mr. Krajewski will also lead three other POPS! concerts during the 2014-15 season, including "From the Heart" with Tony DeSare, "Classic Soul," and more.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is proud to be an internationally-recognized organization which remains deeply connected to, and invested in, our local communities and schools. The Orchestra partners regularly with community organizations dedicated to the greater social good and works to ensure access to musical programs that meet a broad spectrum of needs for all of Atlanta. The Atlanta Symphony also offers approximately 87 free community performances throughout the metro area at various locations including libraries, churches, senior centers, bookstores, and parks. Additionally, the Orchestra provides nearly 100 master classes, clinics, and performances in metro Atlanta schools.

In the new season, the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra (ASYO) will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The ASYO, which provides Atlanta's top student instrumentalists with an opportunity to perform orchestral masterworks under the finest conductors, will perform three subscription concerts as well as a series of December holiday concerts. The ASYO will open its season with an Overture Concert on Saturday, November 22, 2014.

The Youth Orchestra will be led under the new direction of ASYO Music Director Designate Joseph Young. Mr. Young, who will also serve as ASO Assistant Conductor, will begin his new post on June 1, 2014. He succeeds Jere Flint as ASYO Music Director. Mr. Flint will retire at the end of the 2013-14 season following 35 years as ASYO Music Director, 39 years as a staff conductor, and 47 years as an ASO cellist.