American Classical Orchestra Opens Its 2022-23 Season At Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall On September 22

The American Classical Orchestra (ACO), New York City's foremost period instrument orchestra, opens its 2022-23 season on Thursday, September 22 at Alice Tully Hall, with the first of four orchestral performances. Conducted by Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford, the concert offers symphonies by Schubert and C.P.E. Bach, in addition to showcasing the dazzling pianist Petra Somlai in one of Beethoven's most demanding concertos.

The American Classical Orchestra's next concert will present Mozart's beloved Requiem and the world premiere of Thomas Crawford's Elegy, written in honor of former ACO violinist Judson Griffin (October 28, at Alice Tully Hall).

Opening Night - Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3

Thursday, September 22 at 8 pm, Alice Tully Hall

Petra Somlai, fortepiano

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor

Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major

C.P.E. Bach: Symphony in F Major, H665

Beethoven's third piano concerto premiered in 1803 at the Theater an der Wien. One of the composer's personal favorites, it is known among pianists as one of the most difficult in the repertoire. The concerto will be performed on fortepiano by Hungarian virtuoso Petra Somlai, first prize winner at the International Fortepiano Competition in Bruges (Belgium) and professor of fortepiano at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Next on the program is Schubert's Symphony No. 5, which he wrote at the age of 18 in 1816, the same year he composed his Fourth Symphony. The program concludes with the three-movement Symphony in F Major by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the second surviving son of J.S. Bach. The Symphony was one of several C.P.E. wrote while living in Berlin, where he was primarily known as one of the leading clavier players of his time.

Tickets, priced at $75, $55, and $35 are available at aconyc.org or by calling ACO at 212.362.2727, ext. 4. Ticket holders will need to comply with the venue's health and safety requirements, which can be found here.

The American Classical Orchestra's Artistic Director and Founder Thomas Crawford is a champion of historically accurate performance styles in Baroque, Classical, and Early Romantic music. He founded two Connecticut orchestras: the Fairfield Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Old Fairfield Academy, the period instrument offshoot of the Fairfield Orchestra, renamed the American Classical Orchestra in 1999. With the Fairfield Orchestra, Crawford commissioned numerous works by composers, including John Corigliano and William Thomas McKinley, and collaborated with artists such as Joshua Bell, John Corigliano, Vladimir Feltsman, Richard Goode, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, André Watts, and Dawn Upshaw. He also conducted the world premiere of Keith Jarrett's Bridge of Light at Alice Tully Hall, subsequently recorded on the ECM label. An accomplished composer, organist, and choirmaster, Crawford won the prestigious BMI composition award for his organ work Ashes of Rose, premiered at the American Guild of Organists. A passionate activist determined to bring the beauty of period music to a wider audience, Mr. Crawford's educational activities with the Orchestra received a Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth award from the National Endowment for the Arts, recognizing the ACO's dynamic music outreach to New York City schoolchildren. A Pennsylvania native, he holds degrees in organ performance and composition from the Eastman School of Music and Columbia University.

Founded in 1984 as the Orchestra of the Old Fairfield Academy, the ensemble was renamed the American Classical Orchestra in 1999. Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford established its new and permanent home in New York City in 2005. It is now the City's only full-scale orchestra dedicated to performing 17th, 18th, and 19th century music on period instruments. Described as "simply splendid" by The New York Times, ACO players are the foremost in their field, consisting of artists who also perform with such major ensembles as Orchestra of St. Luke's, Handel and Haydn Society, and the New York Philharmonic. Its principal players are Faculty members at The Juilliard School, and the ACO works closely with students enrolled in the School's Historical Performance Program. The American Classical Orchestra Chorus, comprised of professional vocalists from the New York metro area, joins ACO for larger productions. By playing music on original instruments and using historic performance techniques, ACO strives to recreate the sounds that audiences would have heard when the music was first written and performed. The Orchestra and its "supremely skilled musicians" (Theater Scene) have won critical praise for its recordings, educational programs, and concerts, including appearances at Alice Tully Hall and on Lincoln Center's Great Performers series, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and for a sold-out 25th anniversary performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

For more information, visit aconyc.org.