Canton Symphony Orchestra Announces 2017-18 Masterworks Series

This year marks the beginning of the 80th season for the Canton Symphony Orchestra. For our 2017-2018 season, we plan to bring concerts full of color and life to the audience. This season brings back favorite guests of seasons past, and features some of our own musicians soloing with the orchestra. Some concerts include favorite standards in the classical repertoire, and others expose concert-goers to new music or lesser-known masterpieces for the orchestra. We hope to see you at our concerts, and maybe even become a subscriber to the Canton Symphony Orchestra!

For opening night, October 14, 2017, the orchestra is joined by the former concertmaster Lauren Roth, performing the Third Violin Concerto by Saint-Saëns. The night continues on the Second Essay by famed American composer Samuel Barber. For the rest of the evening, the orchestra takes the audience around Rome in musical form, with two of Ottorino Respighi's masterpieces, Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome.

November 4, 2017 promises to be a night full of Russian beauty with a concert full of works by Tchaikovsky. Special Guest Norman Krieger returns to the Canton Symphony Orchestra to perform Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. The evening continues with the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, and closes with the powerful majesty of his Fourth Symphony.

Concert-goers receive a very special treat on December 3, 2017 with another performance of Eric Benjamin's Sercret Gift. The piece is a musical collaboration with the book of the same title, depicting Canton, Ohio during the depression, and includes chorus and narration. For the other half of the concert, the CSO picks an audience favorite, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

For the fourth concert of the season, the CSO shows off the genius of German master composers Bach and Mahler. The January 27, 2018 concert starts with our Concertmaster Vivek Jayaraman and Principal Second Violin Solomon Liang teaming up for Bach's Double Violin Concerto. The second half of the concert features the whole orchestra with the massive world-encompassing 5thSymphony by Gustav Mahler.

The CSO's fifth concert on March 3, 2018, promises to be a night of exciting, lighter chamber music. The concert starts with a relatively new composition, Snakebite, by Stephen Montague. The piece is for a smaller orchestra, but full of fast paced motion and excitement. The Principal Clarinet of the CSO, Randy Klein, then leads the orchestra in Aaron Copland's Clarinet concerto. Ending the concert is Mozart's Symphony No. 40.

On March 25, audience members take a trip through many different genres of orchestral music, from classical to contemporary. Julia Bruskin joins the CSO again for Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major. The orchestra then journeys through Italy with Rossini's overture to his opera La scala di seta, and Germany for Serenade No. 2 by Johannes Brahms. The concert ends with selected dances for Ginastera's ballet Estancia.

The final concert of the season promises to be a grand event. To start the concert, some of the CSO wind players take the stage for Dvorak's Serenade for Winds. On the second half, the Canton Symphony Chorus joins the Canton Symphony Orchestra with specials guest Neos Dance Theatre for Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.

As always, the CSO has a series of Pops concerts on the schedule as well. The audience favorite Jeans and Classics returns for more performances with the CSO this year, with shows featuring the music of the Eagles on September 28, 2017 and Led Zepplin on April 5, 2018. The CSO also has their popular Holiday concert planned for December 17, 2017.

Subscriptions for the 7-concert series are $135-$215. The CSO also offers Choose Four, Five, or Six package which allows patrons to choose 4, 5, or6 of the seven concerts at a discounted price while also enjoying the same benefits of a subscriber. Choose Four packages are $90-$165, Choose Five $110-$185, and Choose Six $125-$205. The CSO offers Pops subscription tickets for the 3 concerts as well, with ticket packages from $50-$80. Subscription tickets and a full schedule of Canton Symphony events are available at www.cantonsymphony.org, by calling 330-452-2094, or at the Zimmermann Symphony Center - 2331 17th Street NW in Canton - weekdays from 9am to 5pm.

Founded in 1937, the Canton Symphony Orchestra is a fully professional ensemble and organization dedicated to performing concerts that enrich, educate and entertain. Under the direction of Gerhardt Zimmermann, the orchestra performs classical, pops, holiday, and educational programs. Most performances are in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, 2323 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio (at McKinley High School across from C.T. Branin Natatorium). For more information, please visit www.CantonSymphony.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.