Austin Symphony: 'USA & the UK'
$29-$115
Benjamin Britten — Piano Concerto, Op. 13
Ralph Vaughan Williams — Serenade to Music
Leonard Bernstein — Chichester Psalms
Join us in February for an unforgettable musical journey as the Austin Symphony Orchestra presents an enchanting evening filled with the most remarkable compositions. Prepare to be captivated by the sheer brilliance of four exquisite works that will transport you to a realm of pure musical bliss.
Renowned pianist Anton Nel takes center stage, weaving his magical artistry into Benjamin Britten's Piano Concerto, Op. 13. Feel the emotive power of every note as Nel's fingers dance across the keys, bringing Britten's masterpiece to life in a way that will leave you spellbound.
The evening unfolds with Samuel Barber's timeless Adagio for Strings, a piece that has the remarkable ability to tug at heartstrings and evoke profound emotions. Let the music wash over you, transporting you to a realm of introspection and beauty.
As the intermission fades, immerse yourself in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, a true testament to the symphonic wonders that can be created. The orchestra's harmonious melodies will envelop you, carrying you through a sonic journey that's both soothing and exhilarating.
And the grand finale awaits as Bernstein's Chichester Psalms take the stage, performed in collaboration with the magnificent Chorus Austin. Feel the unity of voices and instruments as they converge to create a musical tapestry that celebrates the human spirit and artistic expression.
Don't miss this extraordinary evening of orchestral brilliance and vocal artistry. Mark your calendar for a night that promises to be an immersive experience of classical treasures and contemporary wonders.
Runs February 9-10.
About Austin Symphony
Founded in 1911, the Austin Symphony Orchestra is Austin’s oldest performing arts group. The ASO offers a complete season of musical and educational programming.
Masterworks Series concerts include eight concert pairs running monthly September through May in the state-of-the-art Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts. Our season also includes the Sarah & Ernest Butler Pops Series, which features 4 concerts running October through June Pops also at the Long Center.
Programming for the entire family includes the Halloween Children’s Concert and the Sounds of the Season, as well as the popular James C. Armstrong Youth Educations Programs, which include ASO Tuneful Tales, Young People’s Concerts, High School Concert Tour, and a variety of other school programs.
https://austinsymphony.org/About Chorus Austin
Our Mission: To enrich the lives of audiences and musicians throughout Central Texas by performing excellent and diverse choral music.
Our Vision: With an eye to the future and an ear to the past, our inclusive, community-based musicians are committed to changing people’s lives through choral music that is available to a diverse, vibrant, and ever-expanding audience.
Core Values: Excellence, Connection, Inclusion
A rich tradition of great choral music and modern musical innovations mark Chorus Austin, a non-profit community-based organization dedicated to bringing great choral works to Austin and the Central Texas area. Under the Chorus Austin umbrella are its two ensembles: the Symphonic Chorus and the Chamber Ensemble. Each group offers a distinctive concert experience for both audience and singers under the baton of Artistic Director and Conductor Ryan Heller.
We strive to build this community by:
Performing choral concerts and musical programs of professional quality;
Providing artistic development opportunities to its members and the community;
Bringing choral music to new audiences through outreach and education programs; and Initiating creative programming and introducing audiences to otherwise inaccessible music.
About Anton Nel, piano
Anton Nel, winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall, continues to enjoy a remarkable and multifaceted career that has taken him to North and South America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. Following an auspicious debut at the age of twelve with Beethoven’s C-major concerto after only two years of study, the Johannesburg native captured first prizes in all the major South African competitions while still in his teens, toured his native country extensively, and became a well-known radio and television personality. A student of Adolph Hallis, he made his European debut in France in 1982, and in the same year graduated with the highest distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He came to the United States in 1983, attending the University of Cincinnati, where he pursued his Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. In addition to garnering many awards from his alma mater during this three-year period, he was a prizewinner at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition in England and won several first prizes at the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm Desert in 1986.
Highlights of Mr. Nel’s four decades of concertizing include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the symphonies of Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, and London, among many others. An acclaimed Beethoven interpreter, Anton Nel has performed the concerto cycle several times, most notably on two consecutive evenings with the Cape Philharmonic in 2005. Additionally, he has performed all-Beethoven solo recitals, complete cycles of the violin and cello works, and most recently, a highly successful run of the Diabelli Variations as part of Moises Kaufman’s play 33 Variations.
As a recitalist, he has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection in New York, the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, Davies Hall in San Francisco, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Internationally, he has performed recitals in major concert halls in Canada, England (Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore Halls in London), France, Holland (Concertgebouw in Amsterdam), Japan (Suntory Hall in Tokyo), Korea, China, and South Africa.
https://www.antonnel.com/About Peter Bay, conductor
Peter Bay became Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra in 1998. He is also Conductor of the Bravo! Big Sky Classical Festival Orchestra (MT) and Arizona Philharmonic.
Maestro Bay has appeared with more than 80 different orchestras, including the National, Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, New Jersey, North Carolina, San Antonio, Tucson, West Virginia, Colorado, Hawaii, Sarasota, Fort Worth, Bochum (Germany), Carinthian (Austria), Lithuanian National, and Ecuador National Symphonies, the Minnesota and Algarve (Portugal) Orchestras, the Louisiana, Buffalo, Arizona, Rhode Island and Boca del Rio (Mexico) Philharmonics, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Eastman (Postcard from Morocco) and Aspen (The Ballad of Baby Doe) Opera Theaters, and the Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center. Summer music festival appearances have included Aspen and Music in the Mountains (CO), Grant Park and Ravinia (IL), Round Top (TX), OK Mozart (OK) and Skaneateles (NY). In June 2018, he led performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass as part of the Bernstein100Austin celebration.
Peter is the primary conductor for Ballet Austin. For Austin Opera, he has conducted "A Streetcar Named Desire," "La Traviata," "Turandot," "The Marriage of Figaro," and "La bohème."
Other positions held by Bay have included Music Director of the Erie Philharmonic, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival (CO), Britt Festival Orchestra (OR), Hot Springs Music Festival (AR), and posts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony. From 1980 to 1990 he served on the conducting staff of the Aspen Music Festival where he led concerts with four of its orchestras. Bay and the ASO with pianist Anton Nel released a critically acclaimed Bridge CD of Edward Burlingame Hill’s music. With the Richmond Symphony he recorded the US premiere of Britten’s "The Sword in the Stone" for Opus One Records, and with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Voices, featuring the percussion ensemble NEXUS. He is conductor for Christopher Cross’ "Secret Ladder" album and Hanan Townshend’s soundtrack to the 2016 movie "The Vessel."
In 1994, he was one of two conductors selected to participate in the Leonard Bernstein American Conductors Program. He was the first prize winner of the 1980 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductors Competition and a prize winner of the 1987 Leopold Stokowski Competition sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra. In July 2012 he appeared in Solo Symphony, a choreographic work created for him by Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks. He was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in May 2016.
https://www.peterbayconductor.com/