Alberto Ginastera Variaciones concertantes, Op. 23 Alberto Ginastera was born in 1916 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and died in 1983 in Geneva, Switzerland. He composed this work in 1953 on a commission from the Asociación Amigos de la Música in Buenos Aires, and it was first performed in that city the same year under the… Read More

Thursday, October 10, 2024 This gala celebrates so much: Yo-Yo Ma’s first solo appearance with the PSO, the PSO’s hundred years of existence, and the eager, faithful and generous support of Portland audiences. It is the audiences who make the PSO’s milestone possible, and the milestone warrants the appearance of classical music’s most celebrated instrumentalist…. Read More

Sydney Guillaume Lavil Okap Sydney Guillaume was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti on July 22, 1982. He now lives in California. Lavil Okap was first heard on April 1, 2023 in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti with the musicians of the Haitian Orchestra Institute under the composer’s direction. It is scored for 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2… Read More

Sunday, September 22, 2024 Tuesday, September 24, 2024   Founded in 1924 as Portland’s Amateur Strand Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra has come a great distance in a hundred years. With the community’s support, we have become a fully professional orchestra that is one of Maine’s largest arts organizations, with 83 contracted musicians and… Read More

Anna Clyne Quarter Days Anna Clyne was born in London, England on March 9, 1980. She now lives in the United States. Quarter Days was first heard on October 23, 2023 performed by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra with Alastair Willis on the podium. It is scored for 2 flutes (second doubling on piccolo), 2… Read More

Tuesday, June 18, 2024   Selecting a symphonic program to honor Pride Month means choosing from an embarrassment of riches. Along with the composers heard tonight, who either identified as LGBTQ or tried hard to conceal this  status, a conservative list would also include Benjamin Britten, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Jennifer Higdon, John Cage, and Francis… Read More

Dame Ethel Smyth Overture to “The Wreckers”, Opera in Three Acts Ethel Smyth was born in Sidup, Kent, England in 1858 and died in Woking, England in 1944. . The full opera was first staged in Leipzig, Germany, in 1906, and the Overture is scored for 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes and English Horn,… Read More

Tuesday, May 7, 2024   It is a great pleasure to welcome the celebrated guitarist Pepe Romero to share the Merrill stage with the PSO and Music Director Eckart Preu for the first time. Mr. Romero’s spectacular career has so far spanned more than six decades and shows no sign of waning. Of particular interest tonight… Read More

Joaquín Rodrigo  Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra Joaquín Rodrigo was born in Sagunto in Valencia, Spain in 1901 and died in Madrid in 1999. He composed this work in 1939 and it was first performed the following year in Barcelona by Regino Sainz de la Maza, guitar, with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Barcelona… Read More