The ASO presents a Symphonic Series (Saturday evenings or Sunday afternoons), a Children's Arts Festival each June, summer Pops concert in July, and holiday events as well. Visit www.alexsym.org for more information.
...silver bells, the sighs of relief after realizing ALL the holiday lights work, the sloshing of warm apple cider in your favorite mug. We love the sounds of the holidays and hope you will join us for a few more this Sunday, December 14 at 3:30pm as the ASO presents its annual Children's Holiday Concert at the Alfred Street Baptist Church.The program includes favorite holiday sing-a-longs as well as Duke Ellington's jazz-band arrangement of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. Afterward, receive your fill of holiday cheer and treats with a delicious reception.Tickets are $25 general admission and can be purchased online or via phone at 703-548-0885.This is one afternoon of holiday fun you won't have to travel over the river and through the woods for!
Well, the excitement of election season has officially come to an end. Looking for something to fill the void? Join us for an evening of Mozart, Dvorak, and Wilder featuring two guaranteed winners: pianist Yuliya Gorenman and French hornist Amy Horn.
Heralded as a “pianist without fear,” Russian-born, American pianist Yuliya Gorenman brings her artistic fire and extraordinary virtuosity to the ASO for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto #21.Now firmly established in her performing career, Gorenman first achieved international acclaim in 1995 as a prizewinner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. She has performed and recorded with the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra, the Hugo Wolf String Quartet, the St. Louis Philharmonic, the Liege Philharmonic, the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, and many other orchestras and chamber music ensembles. Currently, Gorenman is performing and recording the complete cycle of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas in a series of eight solo recitals at The American University in Washington, DC where she is also a Professor of Piano and Musician in Residence.
Joining Gorenman as a featured soloist is ASO’s own Principal Horn, Amy Horn. She will be spotlighted on Alec Wilder’s Suite for Horn and Strings which ASO Concert Lecturer Colleen Fay calls “vintage Wilder” as it “combines elements of Jazz and popular song, but just enough of each to give the piece a distinctive musical edge.” In addition to her position with the ASO, Horn is also a Master Sergeant in “The President’s Own" United States Marine Band in Washington, DC and a doctoral candidate in Music at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Rounding out the program is Antonín Dvořák’s popular Serenade for Strings.Composed in 1875 in a mere 12 days, the Serenade remains a perennial audience favorite and came from a period of composition that also witnessed Dvořák being well-funded by a grant award and creating his Fifth Symphony.The five, varied movements of the Serenade showcase Dvořák’s rhythmic ingenuity and his now well-known ability to stretch long melodic lines across sections of the orchestra.
Details: "O' Thankful Voice" Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 8:00pm Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center Tickets are $20-$80 and can be purchased online or via phone at 703-548-0885.
It's good to be back! Though we love the slightly more laid back pace of summer, we can't wait to begin our 08-09 season. On Saturday, October 4 at 8:00pm and Sunday, October 5 at 3:00pm, join us as we present "O' Inner Voice" featuring Bowen McCauley Dance at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center (Alexandria). The first program in a season inspired by the voice, "O' Inner Voice" includes Massenet's Meditation from Thais, Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves and Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and Brahms' Variation on a Theme of Joseph Haydn and Piano Concerto No. 1 (Movement 1) with Jeffery Watson, piano.
Ticket prices are $20-80 with special Sunday matinee youth tickets (ages 8-18) only $5! For tickets or more info, call us at 703-548-0885 or visit www.alexsym.org.
On Sunday, June 8, the ASO held its annual Children's Fest at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center. Outside the venue, hundreds of pirate lads and lasses made treasure maps and pirate hats, heard stories, competed in a limbo contest, and learned new dances. Inside, all those pirates made sure they were heard across the Potomac at the instrument petting zoo. Who knows? Some might even leave behind life on a ship for life on a stage with an orchestra!
After the activities were finished, everyone headed inside the auditorium. You could almost feel the waves pounding as the ASO played selections from the "Pirates of the Carribbean" movies. Maestro Kim Allen Kluge, or as he was known that day, Captain Jack Sparrow, took us on a symphonic adventure. Swords became batons as we played along with the music and mimiced the instruments with our hands. Adding to the experience was an impressive, and often funny, videography that played behind the orchestra. Interspered with artwork created by area students involved in the Children's Fest curriculum was a narrative about a school janitor. While cleaning at night, he discovers the children's artwork has come to life. Although we all know the arts can be magical, this videography gave that notion a fantastical twist.
After all the activity, excitment, and inspiration (not to mention a beating hot sun), we were all ready to retire to our own quarters and start dreaming up ideas for next year...
(Of course, we couldn't end this post without thanking everyone who attended and volunteered at the event. A very, very, very special thanks goes to Melissa Luby, the amazing ASO Special Project Coordinator who organized the event and made it an amazing success.)
On Wednesday, May 21, 2008, the ASO held its annual Garden Party which featured a live auction. Despite some drizzly weather at the start of the evening, the event was a huge success raising over $41,000! This money will support the ASO's efforts to bring the symphonic experience to the entire community. Examples of these iniatives include the upcoming Children's Arts Festival and our $5 Sunday matinee youth tickets.
Thank you to everyone who attended, donated or bid at the auction, or helped make the event an amazing night! Of course, a special thanks goes to our Board whose hard work makes this all possible!
Picture 1: Elizabeth McCrae, Kate Patterson, Harriet Lankford Picture 2: Cassie McLaughlin, Nick and Gincy Carosi Picture 3: Frank and Betty Quirk, Jim and Molly Singerling
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra is a fully professional ensemble performing just outside of Washington, DC. We present a 5 concert series annually and have welcomed in recent seasons artists such as Midori and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.
