Tulsa Symphony Orchestra

The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra will very soon -- as in, tomorrow night, Saturday the 5th, at 8pm -- begin its new season of concerts with an open-air, social-distanced, mask-mandatory performance at ONEOK Field. This performance, with limited seating, will celebrate the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven -- and the world-renowned classical pianist Yefim Bronfman will appear as a guest artist. He'll perform the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C-Minor (which was premiered by Beethoven himself, as the soloist, in 1803).

With COVID cases now spiking across Oklahoma, and indeed, across much of the nation, it seems unlikely that Americans will be able to safely gather in large numbers anytime soon to hear music in a concert hall, arena, or auditorium. But the show, as they say, must go on -- and thus many gigs are lately being performed on Facebook Live, while others are being presented at drive-in movie complexes. Or via YouTube, etc. On this edition of ST, we talk to two local arts administrators on how they're planning to offer concert/orcheestral music to their audiences this fall.

The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra will offer its next concert tomorrow night, Saturday the 8th, at the Tulsa PAC. The exciting program will include music by Michael Torke as well as Grieg's lyrical Piano Concerto (with guest artist Sean Chen at the keyboard). Also, Mozart's Symphony No. 39 will be presented. Our guest on ST will be the guest conductor for this concert: Leslie Dunner.

Our guest is Daniel Hege, who will tomorrow night (Saturday the 11th) conduct the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra in its next concert. The program, titled "Strauss and Schumann," will offer an evening of lush, ornate, wholly gorgeous music. The night opens with J.S. Bach's "Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor," as orchestrated by Sir Edward Elgar. Next comes Richard Strauss' "Four Last Songs," featuring the acclaimed soprano Sarah Coburn. And finally: "Symphony No. 2" by Robert Schumann. Details are posted here. 

Our guest is the esteemed pianist, Robin Sutherland, who's known for his long, well-regarded tenure with the San Francisco Symphony. He'll join the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra onstage on Saturday night, the 16th, in a concert led by Gerhardt Zimmermann. Sutherland will perform Mozart's Piano Concerto in C Minor; also on the program will be works by Berlioz and Lutoslawski. More information, including ticket details, is posted here.

Our guest is Ron Spigelman, who will conduct the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra during its next concert (happening tomorrow night, Saturday the 5th, at the Tulsa PAC). Opening with Rimsky-Korsakov's vivid "Capriccio Espagnol," the evening will also feature Mozart's "Posthorn Symphony" (or Serenade No. 9) and Debussy's swirling and colorful "Images." More info is posted here.

Tomorrow night, Saturday the 14th, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra will present a special gala concert at the Tulsa PAC (beginning at 8pm). The guest artist will be the world-renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who will play Samuel Barber's soulful and lyrical Violin Concerto. Also on the program will be Rossini's "Barber of Seville" and Mussorgsky/Ravel's "Pictures at an Exhibition." Our guest on StudioTulsa is the TSO's Principal Guest Conductor, Daniel Hege, who will lead the orchestra.

Our guest is Keith Elder, who has recently been named the new executive director of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Elder, who will assume his new job in August, comes to the TSO from the Aspen Music Festival and School, which is widely seen as one of America's top classical music festivals. A tuba player by training, Elder was the general manager and vice president in Aspen; he's also worked with the Eastman School of Music and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

We chat with the acclaimed English conductor Matthew Halls, who will be the Guest Conductor for the next Tulsa Symphony Orchestra concert, happening tomorrow night (the 13th) at the Tulsa PAC. The program will feature Rachmaninoff's "Symphonic Dances" as well as works by Strauss and Piazolla. More on this concert is posted here.

Our guest on StudioTulsa is Gerhardt Zimmermann, who will be the guest conductor for the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra tomorrow night, Saturday the 2nd, at the Tulsa PAC. On the program will be the famous, intense, controversial, and overtly political Symphony No. 7 by Dmitri Shostakovich -- also known as the "Leningrad Symphony." For more information, including ticket details, please go to tulsasymphony.org.

On this edition of ST, we learn about this weekend's upcoming Tulsa Symphony Orchestra concert, happening tomorrow night (Saturday the 5th) at 7:30pm in the Tulsa PAC. Our guest is Daniel Hege, who will conduct an exciting evening of Mozart (Overture from "The Magic Flute"), Gandolfi (Impressions from "The Garden of Cosmic Speculation"), and Prokofiev (Selections from "Romeo and Juliet"). For more information and tickets, please go here.

On the 100th anniversary of the end of "The War to End All Wars," the Tulsa Symphony will commemorate those lost in that war and all the wars that followed with a performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. The work ingeniously combines the text of the Latin funeral mass with the war poetry of Wilfred Owen, a young British poet who served and died in the trenches of the First World War.

The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra will soon kick off its new season with an Opening Night Gala Concert at the Tulsa PAC. (It happens tomorrow night, Saturday the 6th, with more info posted here.) On the program, the lyrical and masterful cello concerto by Dvorák, which will feature a guest appearance by the world-renowned cellist, Lynn Harrell.

Our guest is Daniel Hege, Principal Guest Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, who will hold the baton when the TSO performs its next concert. That concert, happening on Sunday the 4th, will begin at 2:30pm in the Tulsa PAC. Concertmaster Rossitza Jekova-Goza will be the featured soloist as the TSO performs Korngold's exciting Violin Concerto. Also on the program are Medea's Dance of Vengeance (by Samuel Barber) and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 (a/k/a "the Scottish").

On the inaugural Classical Tulsa podcast, host Jason Heilman interviews Tulsa Symphony concertmaster Rossitza Goza as she prepares to perform Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto with the orchestra on Sunday, February 4.

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we present a conversation with the award-winning composer, conductor, and choral director Eric Whitacre, who will soon appear with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus at the Tulsa PAC (on Saturday the 13th, beginning at 7:30pm).

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we speak with Andrew Grams, who will be the Guest Conductor for the next Tulsa Symphony Orchestra concert, happening tomorrow night, Saturday the 28th, at the Tulsa PAC. It'll be a special evening featuring Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No.6," "Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber," and Copland's "Quiet City." The last-named piece will highlight both Celeste Frehner (English Horn) and Tim McFadden (Trumpet).

Tomorrow night, Saturday the 16th, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra will open its new season with a Gala Concert at the Tulsa PAC (beginning at 8pm). On the program, the "Hungarian Dances No. 1 and No. 5" by Brahms, the "Miraculous Mandarin Suite" by Bartok, and the masterful " Piano Concerto No. 2" by Brahms (which will feature a special guest soloist, the noted pianist Jon Kimura Parker).

Our guest on StudioTulsa is Daniel Hege, the Principal Guest Conductor for the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, who returns to our show to speak about the final TSO concert of the season (for which he'll be at the helm). That concert will happen tomorrow night, Saturday the 13th, at the Tulsa PAC. On the program, three "can't miss" favorites: Haydn's "Symphony No. 90," Kodaly's "Háry János Suite," and Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" (the 1945 version). Please note that you can access more information about this concert here.

On this installment of StudioTulsa, we are joined by James Bagwell, who will be the guest conductor for the next Tulsa Symphony Orchestra concert (which is tomorrow night, Saturday the 8th, in the Tulsa PAC at 7:30pm). As noted of this upcoming performance at the Tulsa Symphony website: "Tulsa Oratorio Chorus joins Tulsa Symphony on a work that became the central and longest work of Brahms' career, the German Requiem.

For more than three decades, Carnegie Hall's beloved Link Up program has "linked" orchestras with students in grades 3 through 5 across the nation; the overall goal is for students to learn orchestral repertoire and fundamental music skills -- including creative work and composition -- by way of a hands-on, in-depth music curriculum.

On this edition of ST, we welcome Ron Spigelman back to our show. He'll be the Guest Conductor for the next Tulsa Symphony Orchestra concert, which happens tomorrow night (Saturday the 11th) at the Tulsa PAC. As we learn on today's show, it's a Pops evening that will celebrate Route 66 -- indeed, a wide-ranging multimedia presentation (in image, text, and music) that will offer everything from Kander and Ebb's "Chicago" to Aaron Copland's "Buckaroo Holiday," and from W.C. Handy's "St.

On this installment of StudioTulsa, we speak once again with Daniel Hege, the Principal Guest Conductor for the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Hege is back in town to conduct the TSO's next concert, which happens tomorrow night (Saturday the 14th) at 7:30pm in the Tulsa PAC's Chapman Music Hall. This concert will feature Beethoven's Symphony No. 4  as well as works by Mendelssohn ("The Hebrides") and Ravel ("Le tombeau de Couperin" and "Tzigane").

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we speak with Tim Sharp, the well-regarded and widely experienced Artistic Director and Conductor of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus (or TOC). Later this week, on Thursday the 15th, the TOC will present a special holiday program, "The 'Glorias' of Christmas," beginning at 7:30pm in the Lorton Performance Center on the University of Tulsa campus. This concert will feature two separate and distinct (but equally wonderful) "Glorias" -- one by Antonio Vivaldi, the other by Francis Poulenc -- that both draw upon the same written text.

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we speak with Philip Mann, the music director of the Arkansas Symphony, who's also been an assistant conductor for performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we speak with Benjamin Zander, the noted conductor, music educator, public speaker, and author of "The Art of Possibility." Maestro Zander is here in town to give a sold-out address to the Tulsa Town Hall tomorrow morning, Friday the 11th, and also to conduct the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night (the 12th; beginning at 7:30pm) in a performance of Mahler's magnificent Resurrection Symphony (a/k/a Symphony No. 2).

On this edition of ST, we chat with Sarah Ioannides, who currently is the conductor for the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, and who's been described by The New York Times as a conductor of "unquestionable strength and authority." Ioannides will be the guest conductor for the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra tomorrow night, Saturday the 20th, when the TSO presents its next concert.

On this installment of ST, we welcome back to our program the well-regarded, Ohio-based choreographer Edwaard Liang, who is currently working with Tulsa Ballet on a production of his special version of "Romeo and Juliet," which will be staged February 12th through the 14th. Shakespeare's tragic tale of two passionate yet ill-fated lovers will be presented in the Tulsa PAC, with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra playing Prokofiev's immortal score.

On this edition of ST, we welcome Daniel Hege back to our show.