ALBANY — The Albany Symphony unveiled its reimagined 2020-2021 season, which will include world premieres and concertos with brilliant soloists, as well as iconic masterworks.
Curated by conductor David Alan Miller, the season brings to life an array of new and recent works by a panoply of living composers forging new ways to create art reflecting our time and place, with major masterpieces by Beethoven, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and others, and dazzling solo performances by artists including Inon Barnatan, Melissa White, Karen Hosmer and Grace Shryock.
The newly reimagined season will be presented virtually. As restrictions are lifted, live audiences will be invited back into the concert hall. All concerts will be performed live, in real time, on Capital Region stages, by Albany Symphony musicians conducted by Music Director, David Alan Miller.
“When we developed our original 2020/2021 season, we planned a season that celebrated composers whose artistry reflected their triumph over adversity,” Music Director David Alan Miller said, in a statement. ”Our newly reimagined season continues along those lines and is an affirmation of creativity. We will continue to trace heroic journeys by great composers of the past and by a very diverse group of the most exciting composers of our own time. I’m particularly thrilled by the many gorgeous new and recent works we’ll be introducing this season.”
The season kicks off Oct. 24, with a program featuring Michael Daugherty’s This Land Sings: Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie.
The 2020-2021 season features a collection of new works, including seven world premieres, by an assortment of extraordinary composers, including Andre Myers, Viet Cuong, Jessie Montgomery, Caroline Shaw, Tyson Davis, Tanner Porter, Michael Torke, George Tsontakis, Carlos Bandera, Nina Shekhar, Clarice Assad, Molly Joyce, Chris Theofanidis, and Alexis Lamb.
The season also features iconic works by great composers of the past. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 will feature soloist Inon Barnatan. The orchestra will perform symphonies by Haydn and Schubert, and Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in its exquisite, seldom-heard original version. Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun and Mahler’s Symphony No.4 will be presented in beautiful chamber orchestra versions.
The 2020-2021 season runs from October through the American Music Festival in June. An Albany Symphony subscription includes all streamed events and in-person concerts once they can safely resume. Because of social distancing, seating will be available only to subscribers. Purchasing a subscription will guarantee tickets for in-person concerts. Subscriptions are available by calling the Albany Symphony Box Office at 518-694-3300. For more information about the Albany Symphony and the 2020-2021 Season Reimagined, visitwww.albanysymphony.com.
2020-2021 REIMAGINED SEASON PROGRAMS
Oct. 24: Michael Daugherty, This Land Sings: Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie
Nov. 14: Claude Debussy, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun; Andre Myers, New Commission; Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 4 (chamber orchestra version).
Dec. 12: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Creatures of Prometheus, Overture and Finale; Michael Torke, Ash; Viet Cuong, Extra(ordinarily) Fancy - Double Oboe Concerto; Karen Hosmer, Grace Shryock, oboes; Ludwig Van Beethoven, Symphony No. 1. Additional performances run through June 2021. Go to: www.albanysymphony.com.
