Lexington Symphony, under the musical direction of Jonathan McPhee, is pleased to announce plans for its 2020-2021 season. “In this uncertain time, finding ways to stay connected to our audience and present high caliber performances is extremely challenging,” said Maestro McPhee. “To kick off our season, we are sharing as much live music as possible, offering our patrons the opportunity to book our talented musicians for one of our fun new Takeout Concerts. There have already been a few Takeouts – both the audience and the musicians loved it! – and we hope more folks will visit our website to arrange their own. We have also worked incredibly hard to create a new Symphony experience for our fall and holiday performances while keeping everyone safe,” McPhee continued. “On Stage, At Home with Lexington Symphony is a series of monthly virtual concerts that I will be hosting live, broadcast free on LexMedia and available to live stream through our website and YouTube.”
Takeout Concerts are 30 minute live, outdoor performances given by Symphony musicians for a small, appropriately distanced audience. Concert hosts may arrange for anywhere from one to four musicians to play in their outdoor space, safely experiencing the joy of live music at home. Hosts can invite friends to spread out in their yard, send musicians to serenade someone special, or gather friends and family online for a live performance. Takeout Concerts are also a great way to support Symphony musicians in a time when most performance options are not available. To book a Takeout Concert, please visit www.LexingtonSymphony.org.
On Stage, At Home programs are a truly unique opportunity for the Symphony audience to enjoy their favorite musicians, young local talent, and special guests in more intimate recorded performances, and to interact with some of them in real time by submitting questions to be answered live on air. Lexington Symphony players appear as soloists and in small ensembles, along with Lexington High School standouts Luke Lee, piano, Isaiah Carver, euphonium, and Marilyn Swinger, flute. Special guests include jazz pianist Makoto Ozone and cellist Jennifer Kloetzel, who dazzled a full Cary Hall with her Dvořák Cello Concerto performance last season. Interspersed with this variety of musical offerings, there are engaging segments with Lexington’s own Jeff Leonard, and musical insights from Maestro McPhee. Each fall program concludes with a beautifully crafted full orchestra finale, featuring symphony movements from Schumann, Bizet and Prokofiev. In December, Holiday POPS!: Christmas Past offers a retrospective of the Symphony’s greatest holiday hits, with a surprise twist. Performances featuring the Lexington Children’s Chorus, New World Chorale, and special guest star Regie Gibson narrating Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are among the highlights.
On Stage, At Home with Lexington Symphony programs will premiere once a month from September to December 2020, with repeat airings on LexMedia and on demand availability at www.LexingtonSymphony.org. “We recognize that most of us are missing the gatherings that typically bring us together, to celebrate, enjoy, and connect with each other,” McPhee said. “We envision On Stage, At Home, as a way to share music while providing an event for our community – both in Lexington and beyond – to gather around. These programs have the advantage of being shareable with anyone, anywhere in the world, while maintaining our Lexington roots. On Stage, At Home is different from other virtual concerts in that I will be online live, introducing recorded segments, and accompanied by some of our musicians, available to answer audience questions. It’s an innovative way to make personal connections through music, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.”
If conditions permit, Lexington Symphony will return to Cary Hall beginning in February 2021 to perform the latter half of its season live for a limited audience. February’s The Genius of Mozart boasts a piano concerto with soloist Judith Stillman, and the Concerto for Flute and Harp, featuring Lexington Symphony principal players Ona Jonaityte and Gréta Ásgeirsson. Imagination Takes Flight, originally planned for March 2020, is scheduled for April 2021, with perennial favorites from Mussorgsky and Wagner, Stravinsky’s Complete Firebird, and contemporary composer Joanna Marsh’s Flare. The May season finale is the ever-popular Spring POPS! program. This year’s Movies, Music and Media brings together fan favorites from television, film and viral video games, with a guest appearance from local cellist, Andrew Kim.
The status of the Symphony’s February, April and May 2021 concerts will be decided as guidance from the state of Massachusetts evolves. Currently, due to state and local guidelines regarding public gatherings, Cary Memorial Hall is closed. As with all other performing arts organizations, the Symphony awaits more information regarding the state’s Phase 4 reopening timetable and guidelines. Once the full details of Phase 4 are in place, specific information regarding tickets, on-sale dates and audience guidelines for in-person concerts – or live concert alternatives if necessary – will be announced.
For more information regarding virtual and live performances, please visit the Symphony website, www.LexingtonSymphony.org or call 781-523-9009.
Lexington Symphony would like to thank our generous sponsors: Takeda, for underwriting September’s On Stage, At Home with Lexington Symphony: Theatrical Celebrations, and our season media sponsor, 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston.
LEXINGTON SYMPHONY 2020-2021 SEASON PERFORMANCES
ON STAGE, AT HOME WITH LEXINGTON SYMPHONY
Broadcast on LexMedia Public Channel: RCN 3, Verizon 35, Comcast 8, in HD on RCN 613
Or visit www.lexingtonsymphony.org to live stream
THEATRICAL CELEBRATIONS
SEPTEMBER 26, 2020 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Musical Insights with Jonathan McPhee: Igor Stravinsky & George Balanchine, Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagète
Schumann | Piano Quintet, Opus 44, 1st Movement “Allegro Brilliante”
Paul Carlson, Elizabeth Whitfield, Rebecca Hawkins, Lisa Kempskie, Nathaniel Lathrop
Debussy | Syrinx for Solo Flute – Ona Jonaityte
Sarasate | Introduction and Tarantella, Opus 43 – Recent LHS graduate Luke Lee, Violin
Jeff Leonard: Playing in a Broadway Pit
Makoto Ozone – Jazz Pianist
Schumann | Symphony No. 3, Opus 97, First Movement
OLD STORIES, NEW LIFE
OCTOBER 24, 2020 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Musical Insights with Jonathan McPhee: Prokofiev’s Prodigal Son
Stravinsky | Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet – Bill Kirkley
Valerie Coleman | Umoja (Unity) for Woodwind Quintet
Pierne | Pastorale for Woodwind Quintet
Ona Jonaityte, Kyoko Hida-Battaglia, Bill Kirkley, Anne Howarth, Patti Yee
Wan Yun Liang | Once in a Blue Moon for Euphonium and Piano
Isaiah Carver, Euphonium, Paul Carlson, Piano
Sonderho Bridal Trilogy – Wood Works, Nordic Folk Tunes arr. Danish String Quartet
Jane Sheena, Leah Bartell, Gabriel Solomon, Karl Orvik
Bizet | Symphony in C, Finale
NEW DIRECTIONS
NOVEMBER 21, 2020 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Musical Insights with Jonathan McPhee: Hindemith’s Mathis de Maler
Hindemith | Sonata for Four Horns II. Lebhaft
Kay | Serenade No. 2 for Four Horns II. Arietta III. Toccata
Anne Howarth, Jeremy Ronkin, Michael Weinstein, Ellen Martins
Duets for Double Bass by Sebastien Lee, compiled and transcribed by Fred Zimmermann
Robb and Halden Aistrup, Double Bass
Poulenc | Sonata for Flute and Piano – Marilyn Swinger, Flute, Paul Carlson, Piano
Elgar | Cello Concerto in e minor Opus 85 II. Lento – Jennifer Kloetzel, Cello
Jeffrey Leonard on “Orchestrating Kids Through Classics”
Prokofiev | Classical Symphony IV, Finale: Molto Vivace
HOLIDAY POPS!: CHRISTMAS PAST
DECEMBER 19, 2020 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Performances from holiday concert archives, featuring the Lexington Children’s Chorus, New World Chorale, and special guest star Regie Gibson narrating Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.
LIVE PERFORMANCES AT CARY MEMORIAL HALL, CONDITIONS PERMITTING
THE GENIUS OF MOZART
FEBRUARY 6, 2021 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Mozart | Don Giovanni Overture
Mozart | Piano Concerto K. 453 in G Major – Judith Stillman, Piano
Mozart | Concerto for Flute and Harp – Ona Jonaityte, Flute, Gréta Ásgeirsson, Harp
Tchaikovsky | “Mozartiana” Suite No. 4
IMAGINATION TAKES FLIGHT
APRIL 10, 2021 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Joanna Marsh | Flare (US Premiere)
Wagner | Flying Dutchman
Mussorgsky | A Night on Bald Mountain
Stravinsky | Complete Firebird
SPRING POPS!: MUSIC, MOVIES, AND MEDIA
MAY 1, 2021 | SATURDAY 7:30PM
Featuring selections from Game of Thrones, Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, Assassin’s Creed, the mastery of John Williams and more. Special performance from local cellist Andrew Kim.
