The Chelsea Symphony's 2019/2020 Season, RISE UP, Features Music that Inspires and Uplifts

The Chelsea Symphony's (TCS) 2019/2020 season, RISE UP, focuses on compositions that are meant to inspire and uplift the audience. The season includes beloved works such as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Gershwin's An American in Paris, the indomitable Fifth Symphony by Gustav Mahler, and Mozart's Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter." Alongside these warhorses of the classical canon, we present nine works by female composers or composers of color, two NYC Premieres, and six World Premieres.

The September 20 and 21, 2019 concerts, Here to Stay, includes one of the most well-known American compositions, Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, which has its roots in WWII and has since become an anthemic call to our sense of humanity, dignity, and the noble cause of a common purpose. Concerti on this series include the NYC premiere of a viola concerto by Jeremy Crosmer, Masks: A Heroine's Tale, with violist Mitsuru Kubo, Eric Ewazen's Shadowcatcher for Brass Quintet and Orchestra, featuring the Nautilus Brass Quintet, and Leonard Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs for clarinet and jazz ensemble, welcoming back clarinetist Alicia Bennett as soloist. Rounding out the concert are a world premiere from Mike Boyman and the concert finale, George Gershwin's An American in Paris.

The October 25 and 26, 2019 concerts, Made of Stars, features Jessie Montgomery's Starburst, a work for string orchestra that plays on the imagery of rapidly changing musical colors by using exploding gestures juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies to create a multidimensional soundscape, and Mozart's Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter." This series includes concerti such as Mozart's Concerto for Horn, No. 4 with Peter DelGrosso on horn, Jennifer Higdon's Soliloquy for English Horn and Strings with Jason Smoller on English horn, Carl Maria von Weber's Andante & Hungarian Rondo with Tilden Marbit on bassoon, and Franz Joseph Haydn's Horn Concerto No. 2 with Adam Schommer on horn. The concert begins with a world premiere by TCS composer-in-residence, Aaron Dai.

The Chelsea Symphony's Holiday Concert on December 6, 2019, features the orchestra's annual performance of Aaron Dai's The Night Before Christmas, narrated by a special guest. Featured performers on this concert will be Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Molly Fletcher on violin and Camille Saint-Saëns's Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso with Dawn Wang on violin. Also on the concert are Arturo Márquez's Danzón No. 2 and the NYC premiere of Fernande Breilh-Decruck's Les clochers de Vienne: Suite de Valses, a work first published in 1935 and is unique in its pioneering inclusion of the vibraphone, an instrument that only became widely available in the previous decade.

The second half of our season begins on January 24 and 25, 2020 with The Noble Spirit. The concert features Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral, written after the loss of her younger brother. In Higdon's words, the work is a reflection on "the amazing journeys that we all make in our lives, crossing paths with so many individuals singularly and collectively, learning and growing each step of the way." Concerti on this series are William Walton's Viola Concerto with Sara Dudley on viola, Darius Milhaud's Concerto No. 1 for Cello and Orchestra with Kurt Behnke on cello, and Alexandra Gardner's Just Say Yes with Michael Blancaflor on drumset. Both January concerts end with Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, a work that Prokofiev said was "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit."

The March 6 and 7, 2020 series, Songs of Hope, features the symphony of all symphonies, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Also on this concert is the world premiere of Mike Boyman's Concerto for Two Horns with Emily Wong and Jess Santiago on horn, and the World Premiere of a work by Tim Kiah.

The May 15 and 16, 2020 series, We Can be Heroes, features string soloists from the orchestra. The World Premiere of Kamala Sankaram's Viola Concerto will be performed by Brian Thompson on viola, violinist Juliana Pereira performs Amanda Maier-Röntgen's Concerto for Violin in D minor, and violinist Camile Enderlin performs Samuel Barber's Concerto for Violin. Also on the concert is Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish," inspired by the composers travels with his wife and known for its cheerful vigor.

TCS closes out its 2019/2020 season on June 26 and 27, 2020 with The World Is Wide Enough, featuring Gustav Mahler's indomitable Symphony No. 5. Herbert von Karajan described the experience of listening to it as if, "you forget that time has passed. A great performance of the Fifth is a transforming experience. The fantastic finale almost forces you to hold your breath." Also on the program are Leonard Bernstein's Serenade (After Plato's "Symposium") with violinist Nicholas Pappone, and Bernstein's Halil with flutist Michelle Stockman.
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Offering seven concert series from September 2019 through June 2020, The Chelsea Symphony's 2019/20 season RISE UP features orchestral works that inspire and uplift.

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