Symphony begins season with Beethoven's Fifth, continues one-for-one youth ticket offer

The Santa Rosa Symphony begins its 91st season with new Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong conducting a program which includes Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony; Sonoma Strong, a work commissioned by the Symphony; Celebration by Pulitzer-prize-winning Ellen Taaffe Zwilich; and Arnaud Sussmann playing Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major.

In addition, the Symphony continues its one-for-one ticket offer in which patrons may request a free youth ticket for each paid adult ticket to a 2017-2018 Classical Series concert.

The first Santa Rosa Symphony concert of the 2018-2019 season -- Francesco Lecce-Chong's first as SRS Music Director -- opens on October 6, 2018, with Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 5. In addition, Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient Arnaud Sussmann joins the orchestra to play Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major. "Passion and Power" begins with Pulitzer-prize-winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s exuberant Celebration and also includes Sonoma Strong by local composer Paul Dooley, a work commissioned by the Symphony that captures the ordeal of last October's tragic wildfires and the resilience and strength that arose from it. All performances are at Weill Hall, Green Music Center. Evening Classical Series performances, Saturday and Monday, have an earlier start time: 7:30 PM. Sunday performances are at 3:00 PM. Francesco Lecce-Chong will be joined by Arnaud Sussmann for the pre-concert talks one hour before performances.

The Santa Rosa Symphony continues its one-for-one ticket offer again for its 91st season. Patrons may request a free youth ticket (for ages 7-17) per each paid adult ticket for any 2018-2019 Classical Series concert. This offer is only available by phone at Patron Services at (707) 546-8742.

New Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong brings fresh ideas, energy and dedication to the Santa Rosa Symphony. He is simultaneously Music Director for the Eugene Symphony Orchestra in Eugene, Ore. He recently concluded his tenure as Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His previous posts include Principal Conductor of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony under Edo de Waart.

Active as a guest conductor, he has appeared with orchestras around the world including the National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, St. Louis Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic and collaborated with renowned soloists such as Renée Fleming and Itzhak Perlman. In the coming year, Lecce-Chong makes his subscription debuts with the Louisville Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and Xi’An Symphony Orchestra, as well as returns to the Civic Orchestra in Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony. Read full bio here.

Lecce-Chong said, "I am thrilled to open the Santa Rosa Symphony's 2018-19 season, and my first as Music Director, with one of the most iconic works of art ever created, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Even with its enduring popularity, the music continues to surprise its listeners with its sheer force of will and its virtuosity presents musicians with unique challenges at every performance. I look forward to this as the beginning of many exhilarating musical experiences with the Santa Rosa community in the years ahead."

Violinist Arnaud Sussmann, an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2006, distinguished himself early on with his unique sound, bravura and profound musicianship. Born in Strasbourg, France, and based now in New York City, Arnaud Sussmann trained at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Juilliard School with Boris Garlitsky and Itzhak Perlman. Winner of several international competitions, including the Andrea Postacchini of Italy and Vatelot/Rampal of France, he was named a Starling Fellow in 2006, an honor which allowed him to be Perlman’s teaching assistant for two years. In September 2015, Sussmann returned to his native France to work closely with violinist Kolja Blacher and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris for intensive training on the play-direct technique, where he then won First prize of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris’s Paris Play/Direct Academy. Read full bio here.

Brahms wrote his Violin Concerto in D major in the middle of the nineteenth century, aided by feedback from his close friend, violinist, conductor and composer Joseph Joachim. The original manuscript, in fact has changes marked on the solo part by Hungarian composer Joachim's own hand.

The anchor of this rich program, of course, is Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. After an early performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, E.T.A. Hoffmann, a reviewer at the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, an internationally-respected, German-language music journal of the that time, declared it a landmark in the history of music, which heralded the composer's increased popularity.

Program annotator Steven Ledbetter says of the piece, "The overwhelming energy and expressive richness of the C-minor Symphony left early audiences stupefied or exhilarated. Even among people who have never attended an orchestral concert, the opening phrase can conjure up the very idea of “symphony,” much as the question “To be or not to be?” conjures up all of Shakespeare.

"The notion of Fate, and the self‑evident struggle that takes place in the four movements of this powerful score have resulted in a century’s overlay of other notions, too—most widespread during World War II, when the coincidence of the opening four notes of the symphony corresponding rhythmically to the Morse code for 'V' and the ubiquitous 'V for Victory' gesture of Winston Churchill turned Beethoven’s Fifth almost overnight into the 'Victory Symphony.'"

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer of Celebration for Orchestra, is among the most frequently performed American composers. She is also the first woman in the history of The Julliard School of Music to earn a Doctor of Music degree in composition. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1983. Other awards include: Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, four Grammy nominations, and the NPR and WNYC Gotham Award for her contributions to the musical life of New York City. Zwilich and her works have been featured in the Charles Schulz' Peanuts® Series and her Peanuts® Gallery, written for a Carnegie Hall children's concert, became the basis for a PBS special. Read her full bio here.

Program Notes are available on the Symphony's "Passion and Power" event page to further enhance the patron’s experience. A video of SRS Musicologist and Music Historian Kayleen Asbo's descriptive and engaging overview and a Spotify playlist of the program can also be found there beginning September 7.

Concert Times and Location
Saturday, October 6 and Monday, October 8 at 7:30 PM (30 minutes earlier this season), and Sunday, October 7 at 3:00 PM.
Discovery Open Rehearsal Saturday, February 10 at 2:00 PM.
Performances are at Weill Hall, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University

Tickets
Single tickets start at $25 and may be purchased by calling SRS Patrons Services at (707) 546-8742, or online at www.srsymphony.org, or in person at the Symphony Patron Services Office at 50 Santa Rosa Avenue from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Monday-Friday, except Wednesdays 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM, and on Saturdays of performance weekends from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Tickets may also be purchased at the door 90 minutes before each performance.
Student Rush tickets (student I.D. required) may be purchased for $10 30 minutes before performances. Discovery Open Rehearsal tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youth (under 18).

Free tickets for youth, ages 7-17. Patrons may request ONE FREE ticket for a youth 7-17 with each paid adult ticket to a Classical Series concert. This offer is not available online; please contact Patron Services by phone or in person.