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Across the state, Georgia's symphony orchestras promise American favorites and new works this fall
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GPB's Kristi York Wooten and GPB City Café host John Lemley discuss upcoming symphony orchestra concerts in Georgia.
From Rome to Valdosta, Augusta to Savannah, Macon, Atlanta and beyond, GPB's City Café host John Lemley joins Kristi York Wooten to preview highlights of Georgia's symphony orchestra concert season, which kicks off this weekend.
Rome Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: I've got John Lemley here, who's the host of City Café and also a classical music expert. And we're going to talk about some of the upcoming symphony and orchestra productions that are happening around the state. Rome Symphony Orchestra is playing the music of John Williams, who wrote the Star Wars theme and many other wonderful movies. Do you want to tell us a little bit about John Williams?
John: Absolutely. This is a perfect chance to not only hear his music but see the films as well. They are taking the Rome Symphony Orchestra on a little tour beginning in Cartersville on Friday, Sept.12; that's at the Grand Theater. Then, as you might expect, in Rome, at the Rome City Auditorium on Saturday, Sept. 13, and then Sunday [Sept. 14], they're at the Gem Theater in Calhoun. So this is a great chance if you're in the Rome area, there's bound to be a performance and a screening of Star Wars and John Williams music, somewhere nearby.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Savannah Philharmonic
Kristi: Now, let's switch gears to Savannah. They've got Keitaro Harada as conductor and JoAnna Farrer on violin. Is it Bach or Beach?
John: It is Amy Beach, and it's Bal Masqué, Op. 22, her “Masked Ball” [from 1893], a great opening piece for the orchestra on Saturday, Sept. 13. In downtown Savannah, historic Savannah, the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. Also on the program, you mentioned violinist JoAnna Farrer. She's going to be serving as soloist in the Dvorak Violin Concerto. Also on the program, a rather quiet piece, but one very familiar to those of us in the States: Samuel Barber's “Adagio for Strings,” and a great suite of music from Aaron Copland's ballet “Appalachian Spring” to close the program.
Kristi: And those are very famous 20th-century composers in terms of Barber and Copland that Americans will know. “Adagio for Strings,” I know has been used in several films and of course Copland is very recognizable. People know so many of those sort of, I call them riffs of his work. And [not this weekend], but sometimes when they present choir versions of that, the choral arrangement of “Adagio for Strings” is just amazing.
John: And the great thing about that Barber, is the timeline. It actually began as a movement from a string quartet, then the orchestral version that first came to prominence at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. And then Barber himself arranged it for chorus a few years later, a beautiful, beautiful piece, no matter the orchestration or the voices.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: That is true. Well, we're continuing on now because we've mentioned both Tchaikovsky and Dvorák already, and it looks like the Columbus Symphony has got both of those on tap the following weekend on Sept. 20 at the River Center for the Performing Arts and the Bill Heard Theater. So we've got Brahms, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky on that bill with a violin soloist, Bella Hristova. Tell us why are Tchaikovsky and Dvorák so popular this season?
John: Well, they're really great for season openers because these orchestras, in addition to, you know, wanting to provide a great program for their opening nights, they're also wanting to whet the appetite of the audience member to return throughout the season. And if they hear something that is familiar, they’ve heard before, they are more likely to explore the rest of the season.
This program, at first blush, sounds serious because it begins with Brahms’ Tragic Overture, which is stormy, a little brooding, but it's delightful as well. And then in the Dvorak Violin Concerto things lighten up, especially in particular movements of it. And the big work on the program is Tchaikovsky: It's his Symphony No. 6, Op. 74 in B Minor, known as the “Pathetique,” with some movements that I know the audience members are going to say, “Oh yeah, I know that piece.” The violinist, Bella Hristova, is amazing and she is going to bring her own brand of magic to the Dvorak.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Kristi: I think it's really important what you said about familiarity being a key to bringing audience into these performances, because that's exactly what is happening with music through across genres and across platforms these days. Because TikTok and Instagram and all these have what they call trending audio, which are snippets of songs that people recognize at the very top of the piece so that they will stay on a video longer than three seconds, you know. There's like a musical trick to try to hook people to have them stay. So I think it's very important what you said about that familiarity. Can you expound on that just a little bit more?
John: Well, it reminds me of the number from the musical Gypsy. “You Gotta Get a Gimmick.” It's not so much of a gimmick, but you mentioned the word “hook.” It is a way to draw that person in. And these days, not only social media, TikTok and the like, but in commercials and cartoons. Well, cartoons have been doing this for a long time, at least since the Bugs Bunny days. What I originally learned about classical music, I learned from that rabbit!
LaGrange Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: So we've talked about Columbus, we've talked about Rome, Ga., and now we're going to LaGrange — they are also kicking off the season with a program that includes a world premiere by Richard Prior: Lafayette, A Hero of Two Worlds. So this is kind of a patriotic production here. They have the “Star-Spangled Banner” as part of it. And then they have some German [music from] Max Bruch with a double concerto for violin and viola and then Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. So that's quite a program in LaGrange, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
John: Of course, the Beethoven Fifth, it's the really the one symphony in all of classical music that you only have to say those two words, “Beethoven” and “Fifth” and people know immediately what you're talking about. That first movement alone, “bum, bum, bum, bum,” is just one of the most iconic few notes in all of music, period.
The double concerto by Max Bruch — it's always fun to hear a concerto written for more than one instrument because it really adds so many extra colors and layers to the work and it's a chance to hear two amazing soloists (Levon Ambartsumian, violin; Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva, viola) at the same time.
The great thing about the programming of the Lafayette is that we're just beginning to come off of the bicentennial of the Marquis de Lafayette's. It was 50 years after the American Revolution and his big role under George Washington in the Revolutionary War is that he returned to the United States from his native France and went on tour, sort of his farewell tour to the United States. And he traveled, of course, through all the original 13 colonies, but he was persuaded to, as he left Georgia — he was in the state for a few days — to continue to see some of the other states that had come about since he had played his big role in the American Revolution. He toured Alabama, he went on into Mississippi and Louisiana. And so having this work, a Hero of Two Worlds scheduled, it's sort of like the perfect coda for the end of what's billed as the Lafayette Bicentennial this year.
Kristi: One of the things I wanted to say back on the Lafayette that is interesting about his bicentennial, I think you said, is that it's also the 10th anniversary of Hamilton, which brought a lot of attention to the character of Lafeyette in that production and educated a lot of younger generations on some of that dynamic. And actor Daveed Diggs, of course, played Lafayette in Hamilton. But so that's interesting, the premiere at the LaGrange Symphony with that.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Augusta Symphony
Kristi: Let's move on to Augusta, because, well, guess what's at the top of their production on Sept. 26? It’s Dvorak! It’s the first part of their "Triumphant Beginnings" program followed by Abels, Brahms and Saint-Saëns. This is a good lineup, as well. Another kind of greatest-hits moment.
John: Right, with one fairly new work as well thrown in for good measure, a piece called “Emerge” by Abels. But the concert, as you said, begins with Dvorak, the Carnival Overture, really kicking off the season there in Augusta in a festive mood. The Brahms Second Symphony, that’s another piece that people can really sink their ears into. And then the Saint-Saëns’ cello concerto. Saint-Saëns loved string instruments. We're familiar with a number of his works for violin, including the dance of death, "Danse Macabre." But the cello really sort of brings out that mellow, warm sound that only the cello can capture. It's really a great piece and it's being billed, as you said, by the Augusta Symphony as "Triumphant Beginnings," and that's really exactly what it is.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Valdosta Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: All right, moving on to Valdosta now, one of the things that I thought was neat about this lineup, if I'm correct, is that this one is that they've got two parts to their — the kickoff of their season. On Sept. 27, there'll be a pre-concert chat and then the concert at the Whitehead Auditorium in Valdosta. But they’re kicking off with a composition by Jesse Montgomery, who is a woman, a violinist and a composer, and this is called "Soul Force." So that's something that is by a young, living composer that will be fascinating and then followed by the Liebermann Concerto and Dvorak.
John: Right. On Lowell Liebermann's celebrated Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 39, it's going to be featuring the soloist, the flutist Sarah Jane Young, who's going be center stage with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra.
And Dvorak, yes, popping up again. And this really is one of Dvorak’s biggest hits from the New World, which was his postcard back to Europe from the United States. He was here for quite some time. He was the darling of the classical music world here in the United States. And over time, he was able to weave into some of his works, including this one, even some African American spirituals in certain movements of not only the Symphony No. 9, the New World Symphony, but other works, as well.
This season for the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra has a through line, if you will, sort of a theme and variations throughout the season… giving us a peek at American life through classical music written for sort of telling a story like Samuel Barber's “Knoxville, Summer of 1915,” Old American Songs by Aaron Copland. Here again, some African American spirituals and the Symphonic Suite from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Sort of programming just perfect [for America’s] 250th anniversary.
Kristi: I love that!
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Albany Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: Now to Albany, where the patriotic theme is also strong. The Albany Symphony Orchestra will present five programs across the year ahead: American Voice.
They plan to cover music this season from American films, holiday traditions, jazz and a Memorial Day concert. The music of George Gershwin is a thread here: listeners can look forward to selections from Porgy and Bess and An American in Paris. Plus a concert for students called Gershwin’s Magic Key in March.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: Now, we're circling back around to Macon and the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra, which is kicking off on Sept. 22 with a little bit different than what we've had. No Dvorak on this one, instead kicking off with Rossini, Elgar, Stravinsky. And this will feature the co-winner of the 2025 Mercer University Concerto Competition, and that's the McDuffie Strings junior Kathryn Fakeley soloing on Elgar's Cello Concerto! This is at the Grand Opera House in Macon.
John: Yeah, and that's no shabby job to be able to serve as soloist of Elgar's cello concerto because it is very demanding. It's become one of my favorite works, especially the opening and closing movements that bring back this melody, time and time again, with just slightly different orchestration each time. So having a junior winner of a competition serving as soloist in this is nothing to sneeze at. The concert here begins with a Rossini overture to La Gazza Ladra, which you really can't ask for anything better than that. And Stravinsky, a sweep from his ballet, The Firebird, which just the famous fanfare alone, it's sort of like having fireworks at the end of a concert. It's just going out with a bang, to say the very least.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Kristi: And now we'll talk about the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and this free concert that they're doing in Alpharetta this weekend. It's called Symphony at Sunset, on Sept. 13 at Ameris Bank Amphitheater.
John: It's sort of like a greatest hits of classical music: not only moments from Tchaikovsky symphonies, but there are some Brahms dances, Dvorak, Rossini, and more. I guess you could call it a last blast of summer. You can hear the ASO in concert, outdoors with the whole family. There is not going to be a member of your family that's not going to recognize and enjoy some of this music, including the Scheherazade, the Arabian adventure that has that amazing, sensuous violin solo. Just a great program, of course, a great orchestra, and a great venue as well.
Kristi: And it's free, but tickets are required.
John: It is absolutely free.
Kristi: That’s the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Alpharetta, but there’s also the Alpharetta Symphony Orchestra itself, which kicks off its season Nov. 7 with Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.
Back in Atlanta, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra welcomes superstar pianist Lang Lang [on] Sept. 19 at Atlanta Symphony Hall for a sold-out performance of Beethoven and Mozart conducted by Gemma New.
John: And of course, leading off the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's opening weekend, which is Oct. 3 to Oct. 5 at Symphony Hall here in Atlanta, there’s Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” one of the most famous brass productions that you would be familiar with as an American; just beautiful, stunning arrangement of that.
Kristi: That will be conducted by music director Nathalie Stutzmann. I think there is more excitement around the symphony since she arrived, and I think there is a return to some classics that maybe people are missing.
John: Nathalie Stutzmann and the excitement that she's bringing to the organization, the ASO: You can see that the moment she hits the stage, she comes out, like a force to be reckoned with — a friendly one, but a force to be reckoned with. And you can see in the faces and the physical body attitude of the ASO musicians that they have a really strong connection; that their relationship, even only a few years down the road, is really a strong one. They look to her, she looks to them and together, it does what an orchestra is supposed to do, which is work as one body, bringing this music to life.
See the full season lineup and order tickets here.
Listen to the weekly radio program The ASO ON GPB.
Kristi: Thank you so much, John Lemley, host of GPB City Café and our resident classical music expert, for joining me to talk about these upcoming symphonic productions that are all happening to kick off the fall season for these orchestras around the state. So [there's] a lot of fabulous music and people don't have to drive to Atlanta. They can go to Macon, Augusta, Columbus. They can go to Valdosta; they can go to Augusta, LaGrange, Rome, Savannah. It's a really great list and lots of music to look forward to, so thank you.
John: Oh, thank you. The honor and joy have been all mine. We have no excuse for not hearing great music just in September alone.
Listen to GPB's City Café and stream GPB Classical on the app.
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