2020-2021 MASTERWORKS SERIES

Picture Perfect

October 3-4, 2020

We open our season in partnership with the Susquehanna Art Museum as we project original works of art created for this concert by young local artists while Stuart conducts Mussorgsky’s masterpiece. Before intermission the HSO welcomes the internationally renowned British pianist, Stephen Hough.

Gabriela Lena Frank Three Latin-American Dances
Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 4
Stephen Hough, Piano
Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition

Sweeping Landscapes

November 21-22, 2020

The glorious and romantic Symphony No. 1 by Scandinavia’s greatest composer, Jean Sibelius, highlights our November Masterworks. On the first half, HSO principal bassoonist Joseph Grimmer performs Pictures From a Floating World by Philadelphia-based composer David Ludwig.

Weinberg Sinfonietta No. 1
David Ludwig Pictures from a Floating World
Joseph Grimmer, Bassoon
Sibelius Symphony No. 1

Midsummer Night

January 9-10, 2021

In January the HSO collaborates with actors from Gamut Theatre to present semi-staged performances of the Shakespeare classic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, while the orchestra performs Mendelssohn’s magical score.

Diamond Music for Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream (semi-staged)

Festive Fireworks

February 20-21, 2021

Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, premiered in January 1945 as the tide of the war was turning, is one of the 20th Century’s greatest works for orchestra – lyrical, powerful, optimistic. The HSO also presents a dazzling and colorful new piano concerto by HSO composer-in-residence, Jonathan Leshnoff.

Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks
Jonathan Leshnoff Piano Concerto
Joyce Yang, Piano
Prokofiev Symphony No. 5

Heroes

March 20-21, 2021

Stuart Malina explores the theme of “heroes” in March with three dramatically contrasting works, culminating in Beethoven’s groundbreaking “Eroica” Symphony. Bishop Nathan Baxter narrates Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait to open the program.

Copland A Lincoln Portrait
Bishop Nathan Baxter, Narrator
Bloch Schelomo
Inbal Segev, Cello
Beethoven Symphony No. 3 Eroica

Verdi Requiem

April 10-11, 2021

Giuseppe Verdi was the ultimate man of the theater, but one of his greatest works was actually conceived for the concert hall. The composer’s monumental Requiem transcends its liturgical origins to provide one of concert music’s greatest experiences.

Verdi Requiem
Soloists + Susquehanna Chorale, Harrisburg Singers, Messiah College Concert Choir

Russian Splendor

May 15-16, 2021

The nearly 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Shostakovich’s native city, was one of WWII’s most epic chapters. The composer’s 7th symphony captures the intensity of the human drama and the triumph of ultimate liberation by Allied forces in 1945.

Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite
Greg Woodbridge, Conductor

Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 Leningrad
Stuart Malina, Conductor