Tchaikovsky and Bowden
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will present Tchaikovsky and Bowden with guest soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden on April 6 at EJ Thomas Hall. The performance will include Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on “Greensleeves”, Jessie Montgomery’s Strum, Jennifer Higdon’s “Reel Time”, and Julia Perry’s Prelude for Strings. The highlight of the evening will be the Ohio premiere of Bohemian Queen, a trumpet concerto composed by Clarice Assad and featuring classical trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden, who has been praised for her splendid, brilliant playing, and pure,...
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Bruckner's Fourth - Part 2
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will present Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, nicknamed Romantic, on March 2 at EJ Thomas Hall. Bruckner’s composition, his first to receive widespread acclaim, showcases the composer’s unique style and is filled with lyrical themes, expressive contrasts, splendid orchestration, glorious climaxes, and dramatic developments. In the second episode of this two-part series, Music Director Christopher Wilkins and Matthew Mauro, acting principal horn, take a deeper dive into Bruckner’s music. The Akron Symphony Orchestra will present Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony,...
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Bruckner's Fourth - Part 1
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will present Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, nicknamed Romantic, on March 2 at EJ Thomas Hall. Bruckner’s composition, his first to receive widespread acclaim, showcases the composer’s unique style and is filled with lyrical themes, expressive contrasts, splendid orchestration, glorious climaxes, and dramatic developments. In the first episode of a two-part series, Music Director Christopher Wilkins and Matthew Mauro, acting principal horn, discuss Matt’s career, and Matt shares some of his experiences with the audition process for an orchestra. The Akron Symphony...
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Gospel Meets Symphony 30th Anniversary Concert
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony and the Gospel Meets Symphony Choir will celebrate 30 years of music and fellowship during Gospel Meets Symphony on February 10 at EJ Thomas Hall. Led by Maestro Christopher Wilkins and Gospel Meets Symphony Choirmaster Jonathon Turner, the evening will highlight the community spirit that has made GMS one of Northeast Ohio’s most enduring musical traditions. In this episode, Christopher, Jonathon and Brenda Justice, coordinator of choral programs at the Akron Symphony, discuss what the program means to Akron, share some memories of past performances, and talk about...
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An Akron-fueled Collaboration
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will open the second half of the season with a performance featuring Mozart’s 29th Symphony on January 13 at EJ Thomas Hall. The evening will also fully embrace Akron as the Orchestra performs Jake Gunnar Walsh & Jon Sonnenberg’s Conflagration - featuring EarthQuaker devices - and Mary Lou Williams’ jazz-infused Zodiac Suite, featuring longtime friend of the ASO and Akron’s own Theron Brown and his quartet. In this episode, Music Director Christopher Wilkins and Theron discuss the program, emphasizing the career and influence of composer Mary Lou Williams. Theron...
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Dvořák’s ecstatic Cello Concerto
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will present Dvořák’s warm-hearted, ecstatic, and deeply lyrical Cello Concerto with guest soloist Khari Joyner on November 18 at EJ Thomas Hall. The performance will also include William Grant Still’s Festive Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6. Like the New World Symphony, the Cello Concerto is another work hailing from Dvořák’s American period and is therefore infused with the same sense of homesick longing that pervades the symphony. Khari Joyner has a following both nationally and abroad as a versatile concert cellist, chamber musician and...
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Sonic Theater on Organ
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony Orchestra will present Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony on October 21 at EJ Thomas Hall. In this episode, Music Director Christopher Wilkins sits down with Robert Mollard, principal keyboardist, to talk about the performance in a conversation that was sponsored by The Friends of the Akron Symphony. Join the Akron Symphony for Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony, featuring Principal Keyboardist Robert Mollard on the Rodgers digital organ, on October 21 at 7:30 p.m., at EJ Thomas Hall. The Preview from the Podium begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the performance, which also includes...
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A Cultural Expression through Music
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will open its new season with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on September 29 at EJ Thomas Hall. The evening will also include the Akron premiere of Jerod Tate’s Clans from Lowak Shoppala’. The piece will include narration by Akron’s Dr. LaDonna Blue Eye, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, and Jerod will be the guest conductor. In this episode, we sit down with Music Director Christopher Wilkins and composer Jerod Tate to discuss his distinguished career, his inspirations, and Lowak Shoppala', which is a work that expresses Chickasaw identity through the medium of modern...
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Beethoven's Supreme Masterpiece
Unorchestrated
The Akron Symphony will open its new season with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on September 29 at EJ Thomas Hall. Not only will the evening be the start of a yearlong celebration of 70 years of music, but also mark the 50th anniversary of EJ Thomas Hall, which the Akron Symphony opened in October of 1973 with a performance of … Beethoven’s 9th! In this episode, we sit down with Music Director Christopher Wilkins and Chorus Director Chris Albanese to discuss a composition that is recognized as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Western tradition, and has become an international symbol of...
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Brahms Requiem Part 2
Unorchestrated
As the performance of Brahms Requiem approaches, the chorus has been hard at work preparing! Go behind the scenes with host Tom Moore and Akron Symphony chorus director Chris Albanese to learn more about how the chorus is gearing up for Brahms Requiem.
info_outlineIn the final episode of our series on the Akron Symphony Chorus, we sit down with Chorus Director Chris Albanese and special guests Chuck Myricks Jr. and Jesse Ayers about There’s a Stirrin’ in the Water, which they co-composed in 2016.
The episode includes selections of There’s a Stirrin’ in the Water from the November 2016 performance by the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Akron Symphony Chorus, as well as a performance by the Akron Symphony Chorus in May 2021 from the parking lot of the First United Methodist Church in Akron.
As a pioneering participant in Akron’s Gospel Meets Symphony concerts, Chuck Myricks has had several of his compositions performed by the Akron Symphony Orchestra and the Tuscarawas Philharmonic. In 2000, he was commissioned by Akron’s First Night to write the new Millennium Theme Song for the city-wide celebration. His 2004 collaboration with the Ohio Ballet led to the premier of Transformation, a ballet featuring music composed by Chuck and performed by Divine Hope. He also has written a musical, The Miracle of Love, and an opera, Paul: A Musical Journey.
Jesse Ayers was the winner of the inaugural American Prize for Orchestral Composition in 2011, and winner of the first Opera Kansas Zepick Modern Opera Composition Competition in 2016. Recent honors include the 2020 Governor’s Award for Ohio’s Outstanding Individual Artist, the 2019 Ohio Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year Commission, two Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Excellence Awards, the 2011 Dayton Ballet “New Music for New Dance” award, a 2010 MacDowell Fellowship, and seven “Finalist” awards from the American Prize. His music has twice been selected to represent the United States at the prestigious World Music Days festival. Learn more at his website.