Jennifer Koh

The Virginia Gazette
By Seth Birkenmeyer
May 10, 2017
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WSO announces 34th season

The Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra is composing its next season, which is set to debut in September and run through May 2018.

"As we celebrate our 34th season, we acknowledge the versatility and beauty of classical music, both old new," Music Director Janna Hymes said in a news release. "Williamsburg area audiences are in for a memorable season."

The season launches at the Kimball Theatre with the first in a five-part Masterworks Series. Contemporary American composer Adam Schoenberg will start things off with "Bounce," which Hymes called a "fun, appealing and uplifting work." Violinist Jennifer Koh will also perform pieces by Jean Sibelius and Antonín Dvořák.

Other Masterworks concerts feature clarinetist David Shifrin leading a performance of Mozart and contemporary British composer Thomas Ades' symphony premiere of his "Three Studies from Couperin."

One performance will feature multiple choruses and soloists joining together for form a chorus of 250 people; they will perform Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9," a work that Hymes said she's "wanted to perform with WSO for 10 years."

Contemporary American composer Kevin Puts, will debut his "Symphony No. 2." 　

WSO will celebrate cinema as a part of October's An Occasion for the Arts festival. Four shows at the Kimball Theatre will feature movie graphics and popcorn. The festive Holiday Pops concert returns alongside the Grand Illumination in December, and the jazz-centric Cabarets and Cocktails concert returns in January.

The symphony is helping mentor the next generation by once again working with the students of the Williamsburg Youth Orchestras; they will perform another Side-by-Side concert in April. Koh and Shifrin will host masterclasses in September and November, respectively. These are free and open to the public.

"I invite everyone to join us for this exhilarating new season," Hymes said.

Birkenmeyer can be reached by phone at 757-790-3029.

Want to attend?

The announcement of season 34 comes as the WSO's current nears its end. The Fireworks Finale concert is scheduled for May 20 at Phi Beta Kappa Hall. For more information on that and the upcoming season, visit williamsburgsymphony.org. Tickets and subscriptions are available by calling 229-9857.

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