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
Sunday, April 21, 2024 Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Music Director Eckart Preu is joined by Portland Municipal Organist James Kennerley for a program of orchestra showpieces that feature or refer to the organ. The centerpiece is Saint-Saëns’ sprawling third symphony, full of learned counterpoint and yearning melodies. It was written for the Royal Philharmonic Society;… Read More
Franz Schmidt Intermezzo from Notre Dame Franz Schmidt was born in 1874 in Pozsony/Pressburg in the Hungarian region of Austria-Hungary; the city is now Bratislava, Slovakia. He died in 1939. The Intermezzo was first performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the title Interlude from an Unfinished Romantic Opera on December 6, 1903. The completed… Read More
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In honor of its 100th anniversary season, the Portland Symphony Orchestra steps beyond Merrill Auditorium and brings the music to you.
This all-new Chamber Music series celebrates the intimate and artistically vibrant nature of small musician led groups as they perform on stages throughout the state of Maine.
Find the answers to all the questions about the orchestra you may be too afraid to ask!
Coming in 2025… The Portland Symphony Orchestra partners with Carnegie Hall to present Link Up: The Orchestra Sings! Link Up is a fully participatory, school-day concert program. Students will fill Merrill Auditorium to sing, play recorders, move, and listen along with the symphony from their seats. This program is designed for students in grades 3-5 but all are welcome and encouraged to participate!
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