The Chelsea Symphony Announces 2022/23 Season Featuring Multiple World and Regional Premieres & More

The Chelsea Symphony's 2022/2023 season, NEAR & FAR, ties together powerful orchestral works by theme, place, and history to highlight the connectivity of the human experience and the journey forward. Ralph Vaughan Williams's turbulent and emotional Symphony No. 4, Margaret Bonds's stirring Montgomery Variations, and Dmitri Shostakovich's haunting Symphony No. 11 headline the season and evoke a throughline of revolution around the world. Others like Brahms's Symphony No. 2, Augusta Holmès's Roland Furieux, and Shuying Li's World Map concertos explore journeys across the globe and through a lifetime.

September 23 and 24, 2022: Turbulence

The Chelsea Symphony returns with Artistic Director Matthew Aubin in a season opener exploring works written in turbulent times. Michael Boyman's Clarinet Concerto was written at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and draws influence from the tempestuous Sturm und Drang music of Haydn & Mozart. This performance will be the world premiere of the work.

Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 4 intones the emotional aftermath of serving in World War I and the sudden loss of a dear friend. Markedly non-programmatic, the symphony stands as a testament to the profound tragedy of war and, perhaps, a well-timed admonition.

Both nights open with Grażyna Bacewicz's Overture for Orchestra written in Poland at the height of World War II. This work vacillates between scintillating bursts of optimism and poignant moments of repose knitting together a sunny antithesis to Sturm und Drang ringing with her anti-war defiance. Saturday features the rhapsodic Richard Strauss Oboe Concerto written in the first days of peace following World War II and dedicated to a visiting American soldier by the reclusive Struass.

Clarinetist Angela Shankar performs the solo in Boyman's new work on Friday and Saturday nights. She is a member of the reed trio Reeds Amis and a regular solo and orchestral performer in the greater NYC area.

Phil Rashkin is featured in Saturday's performance of the Strauss Oboe Concerto. He is an oboist, conductor, pianist, and composer based in New York City.

In addition to his work with TCS, Matthew Aubin is Music Director of the Jackson Symphony and recently appointed Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra.

October 29 and 30, 2022: Movement

Movement has always held great power, both in physical form and as a means to change. Opening this all-American program, Reuben Blundell conducts the New York premiere of Sam Wu's Wind Map, a musical exploration of Van-Gogh-esque charts that map the movement of air. Margaret Bonds's Montgomery Variations, a powerful tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights movement, and the city of Montgomery, AL, closes each performance. Each night also features a different showpiece: Samuel Barber's true-to-self Violin Concerto with Camille Enderlin, and David Baker's jazz-influenced Concert Piece for Trombone and Orchestra with Matthew Stewart.

December 2, 2022: Home

As the year nears its end, The Chelsea Symphony returns home to its roots, performing light classical and holiday pops favorites from its repertoire. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Christmas Overture opens the evening in fanfare with luscious settings of traditional Christmas carols. Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and Gerald Finzi's Five Bagatelles feature long-time members of the orchestra, Joseph Morag and Christine Todd, respectively. Closing out the night are two long-standing TCS traditions: Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride led by a past holiday raffle winner, and Aaron Dai's The Night Before Christmas, featuring a special guest narrator.

January 20 and 21, 2023: Se Souvenir (To Remember)

History is not always known for its preservation of women's contributions to their fields, and music is no exception. Led by Artistic Director Matthew Aubin and Artistic Director Laureate Miguel Campos Neto, this all-French program sees the US premiere of Augusta Holmès's Roland Furieux, a fantastical work from 1867 based on Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso that only received its first performance in 2019. Saturday evening also features two works originally written for saxophone and orchestra by women whose music is still largely under recognized today: Paule Maurice's programmatic Tableaux de Provence, featuring Rob Wilkerson, and Fernande Decruck's Sonata in C-sharp for Viola and Orchestra, performed by Mitsuru Kubo. Camille Saint-Saens's Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Candance Chien rounds out the weekend.

March 3 and 4, 2023: Tour

Travel has long been a source of inspiration for many artists, including composers. Conductor Nell Flanders opens this series on Friday with Ernest Chausson's Poème, a work written while on holiday in Italy, performed by violinist Bryn Digney and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, featuring Nelly Rocha. Saturday features Thomas Purcell in Vivian Fung's Violin Concerto No. 1, which draws inspiration from the composer's experience preparing for a gamelan tour in Bali. Both evenings conclude with Johannes Brahms's sunlit Symphony No. 2, a work he famously wrote while vacationing in southern Austria.

May 26, 2023: World Map

The Chelsea Symphony, in collaboration with composer Shuying Li, presents Li's World Map concertos, featuring members of the Four Corners Ensemble in all new orchestrations of the concertos for chamber orchestra. Originally written for and recorded by the Four Corners Ensemble, each concerto journeys to a different country or region around the world, highlighting the diverse backgrounds of each featured musician. The evening opens with a new work by Aaron Dai and closes with John Luther Adams's Become River, bringing the theme of world exploration together through the bodies of water that connect us all.

June 16 and 17, 2023: Past & Present

Artistic Director Mark Seto leads The Chelsea Symphony in an examination of time and historic parallels in the orchestra's season closer. Each program opens with an American brass concerto written within the last 15 years: Adolphus Hailstork's Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra, performed by Rebecca Steinberg, and Jay Krush's Concerto for Bass Trombone, featuring Owen Caprell. Both evenings close with Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11, a dark and complex work memorializing the Russian Revolution of 1905, written in the time of the Hungarian Uprising, and perhaps a timely reminder of humanity's continued fight against autocracy.

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Offering seven weekend concert series from September 2022 through June 2023, The Chelsea Symphony's 2022/23 season NEAR & FAR ties together powerful orchestral works across time and space.

Premium unassigned seating in special reserved areas is available for sale on Eventbrite.

Limited day-of tickets are available at the door for a suggested donation of $20.

For more information, interview inquiries, and press tickets contact our team at marketing@chelseasymphony.org.

Turbulence

Friday, September 23 at 8pm
Saturday, September 24 at 8pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Conducted by Matthew Aubin
St. Paul's Church (315 West 22nd Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Grażyna Bacewicz: Overture for Orchestra
Richard Strauss: Oboe Concerto, Phil Rashkin, oboe (Saturday Only)
Michael Boyman: Clarinet Concerto, Angela Shankar, clarinet (World Premiere)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4 in F minor

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Movement

Saturday, October 29 at 8pm
Sunday, October 30 at 5pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Conducted by Reuben Blundell
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music (450 West 37th Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Sam Wu: Wind Map (NY Premiere)
David Baker: Concert Piece for Trombone and String Orchestra, Matthew Stewart, trombone (Saturday Only)
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto, Op. 14, Camille Enderlin, violin (Sunday Only)
Margaret Bonds: The Montgomery Variations

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Home

Friday, December 2 at 8pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Conducted by Mark Seto and Reuben Blundell
St. Paul's Church (315 West 22nd Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Christmas Overture
Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Joseph Morag, violin
Gerald Finzi: Five Bagatelles, Christine Todd, clarinet
Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride
Aaron Dai: The Night Before Christmas

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Se Souvenir (To Remember)

Friday, January 20 at 8pm
Saturday, January 21 at 8pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Conducted by Matthew Aubin and Miguel Campos Neto
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music (450 West 37th Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, Candace Chien, piano (Friday Only)
Paule Maurice: Tableaux de Provence, Rob Wilkerson, saxophone (Saturday Only)
Fernande Decruck: Sonata in C# for Viola and Orchestra, Mitsuru Kubo, viola (Saturday Only)
Augusta Holmès: Roland furieux (US Premiere)

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Tour

Friday, March 3 at 8pm
Saturday, March 4 at 8pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Conducted by Nell Flanders
St. Paul's Church (315 West 22nd Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Ernest Chausson: Poème, Op. 25, Bryn Digney, violin (Friday Only)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, Nelly Rocha, cello (Friday Only)
Vivian Fung: Violin Concerto No. 1, Thomas Purcell, violin (Saturday Only)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73

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World Map

Friday, May 26 at 8pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Featuring the Four Corners Ensemble
Conducted by Matthew Aubin, Mark Seto, Reuben Blundell, and Nell Flanders
Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center (129 W 67th Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Aaron Dai: New Work (World Premiere)
Shuying Li: The Dryad, Erika Boysen, flute (Version Premiere)
Shuying Li: American Variations, Joshua Anderson, clarinet (Version Premiere)
Shuying Li: The Peace House, Christina Adams, violin (Version Premiere)
Shuying Li: Matilda's Dream, Allan Hon, cello (Version Premiere)
Shuying Li: Canton Snowstorm, Mi-Eun Kim, piano (Version Premiere)
John Luther Adams: Become River (NY Premiere)

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Past & Present

Friday, June 16 at 8pm
Saturday, June 17 at 8pm
The Chelsea Symphony
Conducted by Mark Seto
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music (450 West 37th Street)
$25 reserved premium general seating on sale at Eventbrite
$20 suggested donation seating available at the door

Adolphus Hailstork: Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra, Rebecca Steinberg, trumpet (Friday Only) (World Premiere)
Jay Krush: Concerto for Bass Trombone, Owen Caprell, bass trombone (Saturday Only)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 103 "The Year 1905"

About The Chelsea Symphony

The Chelsea Symphony upends the traditional hierarchy of the classical orchestra: members rotate as featured soloists, conductors, and composers. The self-governing ensemble is a cultural focus for Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood and presents vibrant concerts of inspiring symphonic music both old and new. From the American Museum of Natural History to the Amazon Original Series Mozart in the Jungle, the orchestra-now in its seventeenth season-remains committed to its focus on professional development, inclusive and relevant programming, and a commitment to music by living composers. In recent years, TCS has worked to expand its reach by providing accessible concerts for inmates on Rikers Island in partnership with the NYC Department of Correction, as well as a free and informal chamber music series at Chelsea Market.