SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES 2017-18 SEASON
A Momentous all-Beethoven Concert Featuring Legendary Pianist Emanuel Ax
Annual Festival Celebrating San Antonio’s Tricentennial
Leonard Bernstein’s 100th Birthday Celebration
CLASSICS SERIES
World-Renowned Guest Artists, Performances Featuring the Symphony’s First-Ever Artist in Residence, and an Eclectic Mix of Classical Favorites.
H-E-B POPS SERIES
A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, a Fab Four Recreation, and the Timeless Music
of Rodgers and Hammerstein adnd So Much MORE!
San Antonio (March 13, 2017) – The San Antonio Symphony is thrilled to announce its 2017-2018 Symphony season! Performance highlights include a September special featuring internationally renowned pianist Emanuel Ax; a diverse Tricentennial Festival lineup; a tribute to Leonard Bernstein honoring his 100th birthday; a Classics Series with 32 sensational performances; and 16 dazzling concerts in the H-E-B POPS Series at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
Subscriptions for the San Antonio Symphony’s 2017-18 Classics Series season are available to purchase now for new and renewing subscribers. 2017-18 H-E-B POPS Series subscriptions will be available for purchase for new and renewing subscribers in April 2017. Renewing subscribers can renew online at www.sasymphony.org/renew. New and renewing subscribers can also purchase subscriptions at the Tobin Center Box Office (100 Auditorium Circle 78205), or via phone at 210-223-8624. Single tickets for individual performances go on sale to the public this July.
“The San Antonio Symphony’s 2017-18 season promises to be an exciting musical journey featuring some of the greatest soloists on the scene today, an array of the most powerful orchestral works ever composed, and our annual Festival highlighting the celebration of San Antonio’s Tricentennial in 2018. We invite everyone to join us for this incredible musical voyage.” - David Gross, President, San Antonio Symphony
Special Events
Prior to the Classics Series season opener, special guest GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax joins the Symphony for a spectacular one-night-only concert on September 16, 2017. A highpoint of the season, the concert features an epic all-Beethoven program with the Symphony’s magnetic Music Director, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, at the helm. Only subscribers can purchase tickets to this incredible concert now at the Tobin Center Box Office (100 Auditorium Circle 78205), via phone at 210-223-8624, or online at www.sasymphony.org/renew when renewing.
The Symphony’s eighth winter festival, curated and led by Maestro Lang-Lessing, focuses on the city’s 300th anniversary, and is aptly titled the Tricentennial Festival. With a wide-range of composers, including Falla, Ellington, Beethoven, Elgar, and many more, the Tricentennial Festival has something for everyone! Soprano and San Antonio favorite, Ana María Martínez, will join the Symphony for the first concert of the festival.
The 2017-18 season will also highlight American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian—Leonard Bernstein, as we celebrate his 100th birthday. Delight in Bernstein’s Serenade, Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, and more throughout the Classics Series season.
Classics Series
The 2017-2018 Classics Series includes 14 concerts featuring masterpieces by some of the world’s most recognizable composers—Beethoven, Bernstein, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and many more. Additionally, the San Antonio Symphony is proud to announce its first-ever Artist in Residence, Olga Kern. The foremost pianist of her generation, Kern joins the Symphony for both the season opener and finale. Other guest artists in the 2017-18 season include violinist Augustin Hadelich, conductor Jeffrey Kahane, and cellist Johannes Moser.
H-E-B POPS Series
Associate Conductor and crowd-favorite Akiko Fujimoto returns to lead the Symphony for the 2017-18 H-E-B POPS Series season. Packed with incredible performers and artists who sing, dance, and play alongside the San Antonio Symphony, the Series showcases the perennial favorites Holiday Pops and Fiesta Pops with new programs that include-
A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Classical Mystery Tour, and a Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration.
Classics Series Highlights:
- September 22 & 23, 2017 – Kern Performs Rachmaninoff
Opening weekend features Artist in Residence, Olga Kern, as she performs Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2. Also featured are Debussy: Prélude à “L’Après-midi d’un faune” and Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique. Maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing conducts.
- November 17, 18 & 19, 2017* – Bolero
Sebastian Lang-Lessing conducts this performance of Ravel’s unforgettable Bolero, Strauss’ Don Juan, along with pieces by Liszt and Wagner.
- March 23, 24 & 25, 2018* – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Captivating violinist, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg plays and leads the Symphony in an exciting program including Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite. - January 12, 13 & 14, 2018* – Beethoven’s Eroica
Part of the Tricentennial Festival, this concert reunites Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing with the Symphony as he leads a program including Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” Ellington’s The Three Black Kings, and Joseph Schwanter’s New Morning for the World. - June 1, 2 & 3, 2018* – Tchaikovsky, Mozart & More!
The season closes with the return of Artist in Residence, Olga Kern, but this time she brings her son Vladislav along to end the season with a flourish. Sebastian Lang-Lessing conducts the duo as they join the Symphony for a program featuring Tchaikovsky: Mozartiana, Mozart: Concerto for Two Pianos, Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.1, and finally, Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini.
H-E-B POPS Series Highlights:
- January 19 & 20, 2018 – Classical Mystery Tour
Experience the look and sound of The Beatles as Classical Mystery Tour and the San Antonio Symphony recreate the Fab Four’s timeless music! - March 16 & 17, 2018 – A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald
A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald honors “The First Lady of Song.” The program features many of her greatest hits from the Great American Songbook and stars three amazing singers—Harolyn Blackwell, Aisha de Haas, and Capathia Jenkins. - June 8, 9 & 10, 2018* – Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration
Celebrate the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein! This wonderful program includes show-stopping Broadway tunes such as Climb Every Mountain, Oklahoma, Some Enchanted Evening, All the Things You Are, and many more.
*Sunday afternoon Classics and POPS Series concerts are at 2pm at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
See season introduction sheet attached for complete listing of the Classics Series and H-E-B POPS Series.
Programs and artists are subject to change.
Ticket Information
Subscriptions for the 2017-18 Classics Series season are on sale NOW at the Tobin Center Box Office for renewing and new subscribers. 2017-18 H-E-B POPS Series subscriptions will be available for purchase for new and renewing subscribers in April 2017. Renewing subscribers can renew online at www.sasymphony.org/renew. New and renewing subscribers can also purchase subscriptions at the Tobin Center Box Office (100 Auditorium Circle 78205), or via phone at 210-223-8624. Single tickets for individual performances go on sale to the public this July.
For more information, call the offices of the San Antonio Symphony at 210-554-1010.
About the San Antonio Symphony
The San Antonio Symphony is a non-profit performing arts organization with the mission to inspire and enrich our community by vigorously influencing the artistic fabric of San Antonio through excellent symphonic performance, education and service. The San Antonio Symphony, with more than 70 professional musicians, serves over 130,000 people per year including over 40,000 students. For more information about the Symphony visit www.sasymphony.org or connect with us on Facebook (San Antonio Symphony), Twitter (@Sasym), Instagram (@Sasymphony).