Pittsburgh Symphony plans return to Heinz Hall live audiences
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will return to Heinz Hall in September with a full orchestra in front of live audiences.
“When we return in September, it will have been a shocking drought of 18 months since we’ve all been together at Heinz Hall,” said Melia Tourangeau, PSO president and CEO.
The upcoming 78-concert season includes BNY Mellon Grand Classics dates and PNC Pops subscription series, featuring 50 classical concerts (including the Gala and two special concerts); 26 concerts in the Pops series; and two Learning & Community Engagement concerts.
The 2021-22 season will be PSO’s 14th under the direction of Music Director Manfred Honeck, the first season with in-person audiences at Heinz Hall under the direction of Principal Pops Conductor Byron Stripling, and the 126th in the orchestra’s history.
It also marks the 50th anniversary of Heinz Hall, the symphony’s home in downtown Pittsburgh, which has been undergoing some renovations during the pandemic shutdown.
The symphony will welcome 16 artists originally scheduled for the 2020-21 season, four artists whose appearances were canceled late in the 2019-20 season and three artists who missed both of those seasons. Two commissions from the 125th season will be performed during the upcoming season.
“Thinking about the season ahead, I feel such gratitude for the gift of composers and musicians for creating exceptional art, from stalwarts like Tchaikovsky and Strauss, to modern contemporary voices like Gloria Isabel Ramos Triano, Wynton Marsalis, Vivian Fung and Michael Daugherty,” Tourangeau said.
Opening celebration
The BNY Mellon Grand Classics subscription series begins Sept. 24 with Honeck leading the “Opening Celebration Weekend” with virtuoso pianist Hélène Grimaud on a program of Ravel and Tchaikovsky.
The PNC Pops subscription season begins Oct. 1 with Stripling leading “Swingin’ at the Club,” a program inspired by Harlem’s famed musical hot spots and the Great American Songbook.
“As we return to live performances and people fill the hall, it is my greatest hope that music also fills our hearts, that music heals some of the grief of the last year, and that music be a source of joy for being together again,” Honeck said. “It is thrilling to look ahead to welcoming many friends to the stage, both old and new, and to presenting so many new works and composers to Pittsburgh.”
Honeck will lead five world premieres, with five PSO commissions: Reza Vali’s “The Girl from Shiraz” from Persian Folk Songs; Michael Daugherty’s Fifteen: Symphony Fantasy on the Art of Andy Warhol; David Ludwig’s Concerto for Two Clarinets and Two Bassoons; Gloria Isabel Ramos Triano’s why?; and Puccini (arr. Honeck/Ille): Symphonic Suite from Turandot.
Honeck also will conduct six Pittsburgh Symphony premieres, including a co-commission of Marsalis’ Fanfare; along with concerts in which these soloists make their PSO debuts: María Dueñas, violin; Kian Soltani, cello; Lauren Snouffer, soprano, and Dashon Burton, bass-baritone.
Conductors who will make their Pittsburgh debuts are Kirill Karabits, Lorenzo Viotti, Nathalie Stutzmann, Matthias Pintscher and David Afkham.
In addition to “Swingin’ at the Club,” the PNC Pops series will explore the music of Paul Simon, Motown and Marvin Hamlisch; a circus-dance-theater program, and Bugs Bunny animation. It also includes the seasonal favorite Highmark Holiday Pops.
“I’m so honored to be in my first season with this great orchestra, and though it was not at all the season we had imagined, we found new ways to come together and to be lifted,” Stripling said. “I believe that music has never been so vital to our joy, our healing, our lives. The musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony play with passion because they love it, because it’s their life force.”
Fiddlesticks and more
Fall concerts will be performed without intermission. Show times will be 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
The full Learning & Community Engagement season, including the Fiddlesticks Family Series, and additional PSO concerts, such as the PSO360 series and audience favorites like movie scores performed live with the film, are expected to be announced later.
BNY Mellon Grand Classics season tickets are available in packages of six, seven, 14 and 20 concerts, with prices from $102-$1,470. PNC Pops season tickets are available in seven-concert packages, with prices from $133-$658.
For subscriptions, visit pittsburghsymphony.org or call 412-392-4900 or 800-743-8560. The Heinz Hall box office is closed for renovation until September, with reopening date to be announced later.
Tickets for individual concerts will go on sale in late August.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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