Youngstown Symphony Orchestra 2016-17 season Our musical roots

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra’s 90th anniversary season will pay homage to the ethnic groups that settled the Mahoning Valley, and will also include some classic rock.

The 2016-17 season will include three classical concerts and three pops concerts. The orchestra is under the direction of Randall Craig Fleischer. All concerts start at 8 p.m. and are in Powers Auditorium.

The Valley’s ethnic roots will be explored in the classical concerts.

The musical odyssey will begin Sept. 17 with a salute to Eastern Europe featuring Tchaikovsky’s Mozartiana, Chopin’s Polonaise and Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. Also featured on the program will be “The Moldau” by Smetana, Liszt’s “Les Preludes” and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances.

On Nov. 5, the orchestra will pay tribute to the Italian settlers. Operatic selections include Rossini’s “William Tell Overature,” Verdi’s Triumphal March from “Aida,” “Sunrise” from Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and Mozart’s ballet music from “Idomeneo.” Completing the evening’s program will be the Vivaldi Concerto Grosso No. 8, Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances and his symphonic poem ““Pines of Rome.

On March 25, 2017, the orchestra will highlight the immigrants from the British Isles and salute the Underground Railroad with the song cycle from Nkeiru Okove’s opera “Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom,” performed by soprano Kishna Davis. A combined community high-school choir will perform Vivaldi’s “Gloria.” Other selections include Copland’s “Fanfare to the Common Man,” Chadwick’s “Jubilee” and Handel’s Concerto Grosso No. 25.

The season also will include events to complement the concerts, including a multicultural Opening Night Celebration Sept. 17 and Chinese New Year festival with the Nai-Ni Chen Dancers on Feb. 11, 2017. The latter event will include traditional Chinese dance and a reception and will take place in Ford Family Recital Hall.

The Pops Series will begin Oct. 1 with “Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles,” featuring original members of the Broadway show “Beatlemania” performing Beatles classics, including “Yesterday,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Hey Jude” and “Penny Lane.”

Christmas in the City will be the title of the Dec. 3 concert, which will include Broadway vocalist Rachel York, a host of Mahoning Valley performers and the Simple Gifts Choir.

“Rock On,” Fleischer’s latest arrangement of classic rock and symphonic music, will be presented Feb. 18, 2017, with the rock hits of the ’70’s and ’80,s featuring Rob Evan of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, LaKisha Jones of “American Idol,” Mandy Gonzalez from Broadway’s “Wicked” and the Youngstown Connection.

To subscribe to the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Classic and Pops programs or a self-created Flex Series, call the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office at 330-744-0264 or go to youngstownsymphony.com.