Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Suite from Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66a Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia, in 1840 and died in St. Petersburg in 1893. He composed the ballet Sleeping Beauty on a commission from the Director of the Imperial Theaters in St. Petersburg in 1888-1889 and it was first performed at the Mariinsky… Read More

Sunday, April 27, 2025 Tuesday, April 29, 2025 PSO Music Director is joined for this program by the Silver-Garburg Duo in two-piano concertos by J. S. Bach and Mozart. The Silver-Garburgs last played here in February, 2022 with concertos by Bach and Poulenc. After intermission, Carl Orff’s eternally popular Carmina Burana takes the stage, employing… Read More

Johann Sebastian Bach Concerto for Two Pianos and String Orchestra in C Major, BWV 1061 Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany on either March 21 or March 31, 1685 and died in Leipzig, Germany on July 28, 1750. This concerto, originally for 2 harpsichords and strings, dates from the 1730s and is scored… Read More

Sunday, March 30, 2025 This concert provides, among other things, a portrait of the brilliant American clarinetist and composer David Krakauer, who moves easily between the worlds of classical music and klezmer. He  appears with the PSO for the first time. Conductor Anna Handler, newly appointed an assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony, also makes… Read More

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A major K. 622 Wolfgang Amadè Mozart (he never used “Amadeus” except when making a joke) was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756 and died in Vienna in 1791. He composed this concerto in November of 1791, and it was likely performed soon thereafter with Anton… Read More

Tuesday, March 4, 2025 Beloved Maine pianist Diane Walsh makes a long-awaited return to the PSO with Beethoven’s most serene piano concerto, the 4th, in G Major, Opus 58. Pre-pandemic, she performed Clara Schumann’s youthful piano concerto with conductor Ruth Reinhardt in March 2019, and Chopin’s second concerto with Robert Moody in January 2017. Mexican… Read More

Gabriela Ortiz Kauyumari Gabriela Ortiz was born in 1964 in Mexico City, Mexico. She continues to live in Mexico. Kauyumari was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and first performed by that orchestra with its music director Gustavo Dudamel on October 9, 2021 at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. The work is scored for… Read More

Friday, January 24, 2025 Sunday, January 26, 2025     Is there a more famous or beloved opera than Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece La bohème? After a somewhat hesitant audience reception at its premiere in Turin in 1896, led by the great Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, it has gone on to be performed everywhere. Bohème is listed… Read More

Giacomo Puccini     La bohème     Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy on December 22, 1858, and died in Brussels, Belgium on November 29, 1924 La bohèmewas first heard on February 1, 1896 at the Teatro Regio in Torino (Turin), Italy with Arturo Toscanini on the podium. It is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo,… Read More

Sunday, November 10, 2024 As we continue the PSO’s centennial celebration, this program brings to our attention the brilliant principal players of the orchestra.  Variaciones concertantes by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) was written at a time when the composer’s conflict with the Perón régime caused him great hardship. Friends in other parts of the… Read More