Juan Pablo Contreras Mariachitlán Juan Pablo Contreras (b. 1987, Guadalajara, Mexico) is a Latin GRAMMY®-nominated composer who combines Western classical and Mexican folk music in a single soundscape. His works have been performed by 40 major orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Austria, Slovakia, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, and Venezuela. He is the winner of… Read More
Sunday, November 12, 2023 Guest conductor Tito Muñoz last conducted the PSO in June 2022, filling in at the last minute for an ailing Eckart Preu at Seaside Pavilion in Old Orchard Beach. For tonight’s program, he has chosen three works with the flavor of the year’s seasons, above and below the equator. The… Read More
George Enescu Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major, Op. 11 George Enescu (known also as Georges Enesco) was born in 1881 in Liveni, Romania, and died in Paris in 1955. He composed this work in 1901, and led the first performance in Bucharest in 1903. The score calls for 3 flutes, piccolo, 3… Read More
Tuesday, October 12, 2023 This program could just as well be titled “National Fervor.” Musical Director Eckart Preu leads three works with immediately obvious national characteristics. Two are from countries that were part of larger empires when these pieces were written; only Romania was independent. Enescu summons a vast range of orchestral color to… Read More
George Gershwin An American in Paris George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1898 and died in Hollywood in 1937. He composed An American in Paris in 1928, and it was first performed later that year by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Walter Damrosch. The score calls for… Read More
Saturday, September 30, 2023 Sunday, October 1, 2023 PSO Music Director Eckart Preu is joined by the singers of Portland’s ChoralArt for a program of music that paints vivid pictures. Visual artists from the Maine College of Art and Design have created new work inspired by Mussorgsky’s great 1874 solo piano work Pictures at… Read More
Brian Nabors Pulse Brian Raphael Nabors was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1991. His piece Pulse was first performed by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero on September 9th, 2019 in Laura Turner Concert Hall at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN for the NSO 2019 Composer Lab Showcase. The score calls for 3… Read More
This program is a snapshot of the richness of London musical life in the years before the First World War. The British Empire, upon which the sun never set, was at its zenith, and its capital basked in its diversity and wealth. The country’s artists looked abroad for inspiration, but also, finally, searched England’s history… Read More
Max Bruch Kol Nidrei for violoncello and orchestra, Adagio on Hebrew Themes This work by the German composer Max Bruch (1838-1920) remains one of his most popular, along with his first violin concerto and his Scottish Fantasy. Three symphonies, two additional violin concertos, numerous choral and chamber works are largely unheard today, though curious listeners… Read More
PSO violinist Lisa Goddard performs Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 5 (“L’Aurore” & “Dance Rustique”) for solo violin as part of our digital series PSO: Notes From Home. Watch as the amazing musicians of your Portland Symphony Orchestra bring music, instrument demonstrations, and more from their homes to yours! To help the PSO Play On, donate… Read More
85 Exchange Street 4th Floor, Portland, ME 04101 | Phone: (207) 773-6128 | Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 01-6006058
Find the answers to all the questions about the orchestra you may be too afraid to ask!
This year’s Youth Concert will feature a performance of Carnival of the Animals: Remix, an engaging and reimagined version of Saint-Saëns’ famous work. Featuring local artists including a rapper, a Native American flute player, and an erhu player, this interactive daytime performance is perfect for all elementary students (K-4).
Ticket sales cover only a portion of what it takes to produce the PSO’s artistic and education programs. Your generous support is vital in helping us deliver music programs that serve children and adult listeners.
