Alexandria Symphony Announces 2021-2022 Season: All Together Now

Posted Jul 26, 2021 | ASO News, Press Releases, 

Alexandria, VA—The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra announces its triumphant return to the concert stage with its 2021-2022 Season led by Music Director James Ross. The season offers masterworks, collaborations, a world premiere, and a timely new text for a centuries-old “Ode to Joy.”

“As we see light at the end of our tunnel of quietness, the ASO’s vision for orchestral ‘coming-together’ that remained unrealized last season can now finally blaze into full life,” says Maestro Ross. “Our season theme of ‘All Together Now’ celebrates hope, joy and renewed connection—music that binds us as one again.”

The season launches with a joyful noise on October 2 and 3, 2021 as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Ode to Joy) is presented in collaboration with the Alexandria Choral Society led by Artistic Director Brian Isaac. Soloists Dara Rahming, Marquita Raley-Cooper, Rodrick Dixon and Daniel Rich appear courtesy of the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA). Beethoven’s greatest masterpiece will be set to a new English text by former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer prize-winner Tracy K. Smith. The program will open with Bruckner’s Benedictus from Mass No. 3.

In partnership with the Alexandria Film Festival the ASO presents Homegrown: American Stories in Music and Film on November 6 and 7, 2021. Original films that were commissioned by the ASO and produced by local artists will accompany music from the Americana tradition including Higdon’s Blue Cathedral, Copland’s Our Town and John Henry, Griffes’ Clouds, Ives’ “Housatonic at Stockbridge” and Grant Still’s “Manhattan Skyline.” The program culminates with Mussorgsky’s well-loved Pictures at an Exhibition.

On December 17 and 19, 2021, the ASO brings back the joy of live holiday music that audiences yearned for in 2020. ASO will accompany dancers from BalletNOVA with selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Alexandria Choral Society joins the ASO for choruses from Händel’s Messiah and will lead the audience in popular holiday carols.

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Jim Ross and the ASO this season and look forward to continuing our work, building community through music performance with October’s Beethoven Ninth and December’s Home for the Holidays programs,” said Alexandria Choral Society Artistic Director Brian J. Isaac. “Singing is an expression of joy, and we’re ready to share that joy publicly for the first time in over a year!”

Renowned pianist Sara Daneshpour headlines on February 12 and 13, 2022 with Rachmaninov’s stirring Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Daneshpour has garnered awards internationally and received acclaim as a sought-after touring artist. Strings take center stage with Beethoven’s last string quartet, expanded for orchestra by Maestro Jim Ross. The program also features George Walker’s Lyric for Strings and Sibelius’ epic tone poem, Finlandia.

Brahms’ uplifting Symphony No. 1 provides a fitting and dramatic conclusion to the season, moving from profound sadness to unbridled joy. The performances on April 23 and 24, 2022 feature violinist Dylana Jenson, the youngest and first American woman to win a medal in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition, in Samuel Barber’s sparkling and virtuosic violin concerto. The concert opens with the world premiere of Brian Prechtl’s Tribute, commissioned for the ASO by Classical Movements’ Eric Helms New Music Program, uniting ASO musicians onstage with students from our award-winning education program Sympatico.

Note: October, November and December concerts will be presented with no intermission. Both performances in October will be performed at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center. Masks are strongly recommended for non-vaccinated attendees by the CDC, our concert venues and the ASO. Seating is extremely limited at George Washington Masonic Memorial. For information based on current health guidelines, please visit our website prior to each concert.

The 2021-2022 Season is generously underwritten by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alexandria Commission for the Arts. Subscription packages start at $86. Adult prices start at $20, $5 for youth and $15 for students. Military, senior and group discounts are also available. Tickets go on sale August 2, 2021.