Events in 2009
All events and times are subject to change.
Kinder Konzert
EDUCATION CONCERTS
Winter Program (grades K-3)
Thurs, February 19, 2009 at 9:30 & 11am
Fri, February 20, 2009 at 9:30 & 11am
Ward Stare, conductor
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which many people know from the classic Disney movie, Fantasia, is actually a musical interpretation of a poem by the German poet Goethe. Mozart imagines a fantastic world in The Magic Flute. Through our imaginations music creates pictures in our minds.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
SPECIAL EVENT
- Friday, February 20, 2009 at 7:30pm
The "house" band for the birthplace of jazz. Preservation Hall sits at the heart of the French Quarter, and the musicians who make up the band learned from legends who played with the forefathers of New Orleans jazz: Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and others. Spirits preserved.
Lift Every Voice: Black History Month Celebration
SPECIAL EVENT
- Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 7:30pm
Leon Burke, conductor
Saint Louis Symphony IN UNISON® Chorus
Robert Ray, director
University of Missouri-St. Louis Community Chorus
Robert Ray, director
Stan Ford, piano
A Tribute to Mae Wheeler with Denise Thimes, Zella Jackson Price and Skeet Rogers
Brian Owens, master of ceremonies
STILL The Awakening from Symphony No. 3 “The Sunday Symphony”
BEETHOVEN Fantasia in C minor for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 80
JOHNSON arr. Carter Lift Every Voice and Sing
TRIBUTE TO MAE WHEELER Selections will be announced from the stage
Join the SLSO and the Saint Louis Symphony IN UNISON® Chorus for the Black History Month Concert. Celebrate the rich experience of African and African-American culture that has influenced musical composition over the past three centuries and shaped the lives of people around the world.
Saint-Saëns "Organ" Symphony
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Friday, February 27, 2009 at 10:30am (Coffee Concert)
- Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 8pm
- Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 3pm
Jun Märkl, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
LISZT Les Préludes
DVOŘÁK Piano Concerto
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, “Organ”
John Romeri, organ
“Chiaroscuro” means the contrasts between lights and darks in a picture or painting. It’s an effective word to describe this concert: Liszt’s tone poem of life and death; Dvořák’s concerto, with an interplay between soloist and orchestra like dappled light; and Saint-Saëns’ symphony of dazzling variations.
PreConcert Perspective with Amy Kaiser one hour prior to each concert.
Dance/Music I
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
Presented by American Airlines
Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts
- Friday, March 6, 2009 at 8pm
David Robertson, conductor
Scott Andrews, clarinet
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Whitaker Guest Artist)
(Performing Bach, Stravinsky and Bernstein)
Jim Vincent, artistic director
BACH Movements from Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3 & 1
Daniel Lee, cello
Ayako Watanabe, harp
STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for Clarinet
Scott Andrews, clarinet
STRAVINSKY Symphonies of Wind Instruments
BERNSTEIN Prelude, Fugue & Riffs
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Scott Andrews, clarinet
RAVEL Boléro
In the first of two deliciously different concerts, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago adds the grace and power of the human form to works by Bach, Stravinsky and Bernstein, as played by the SLSO. Then a purely orchestral finale as the musicians unleash the sensual sounds of Ravel's Boléro.
PreConcert Perspective with David Robertson one hour prior to each concert.
Dance/Music II
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
Presented by American Airlines
Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts
- Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 8pm
David Robertson, conductor
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Whitaker Guest Artist)
(Performing Mozart and Britten)
Jim Vincent, artistic director
MOZART Symphony No. 40
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
BRITTEN Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
RAVEL Boléro
Mozart inspires a divine comedy of physical gesture as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago reveals the composer's ingenious wit through bodies in motion. Then a new HSDC work, performed to Britten's homage to his teacher. Boléro—with the SLSO alone providing the movement—closes this exquisite evening of music and dance.
PreConcert Perspective with David Robertson one hour prior to each concert.
Dance & Music: Boléro
Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts
FAMILY CONCERTS
(ages 3+)
- Sunday, March 8, 2009 at 3pm
David Robertson, conductor
Scott Andrews, clarinet
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Whitaker Guest Artist)
Jim Vincent, artistic director
MOZART Symphony No. 40
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for Clarinet
Scott Andrews, clarinet
BERNSTEIN Prelude, Fugue & Riffs
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Scott Andrews, clarinet
RAVEL Boléro
$10 Adult, $6 Child | Children 3+ are welcome to attend. Everyone must have a ticket for admittance to a Family concert.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago brings the SLSO Dance Festival to the final Family Concert of the season. Rarely do such extraordinary dancers and such exceptional musicians perform together live, and with the exciting Boléro and David Robertson conducting, this is one family event that will delight everyone.
Beethoven’s “Pastoral”
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:30am (Coffee Concert)
- Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8pm
- Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 8pm
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Mark Sparks, flute
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
NIELSEN Flute Concerto
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”
Beethoven treasured the sounds of the woods, even when those sounds were more remembered than heard. His “Pastoral” Symphony contains a storm (of nature and of mind) that inspired many cinematic soundtracks to come. In Vaughan Williams and Nielsen you hear two composers who listened as deeply to nature, and were as inspired.
PreConcert Perspective with Peter Henderson one hour prior to each concert.
Discover Beethoven
TOUHILL SUNDAYS
- Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 2pm
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Guest conductor Nicholas McGegan reveals the wonders of one of the best-loved symphonies. McGegan shares his understanding of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” with slide show, discussion, and musical excerpts. Then McGegan leads the SLSO in a full performance of the composer’s dramatic evocation of the natural world.
Touhill Performing Arts Center, UM-St. Louis
Contact the Touhill at 314-516-4949 or visit www.touhill.org for on-sale dates.
Youth Orchestra
- Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 3pm
Ward Stare, conductor
Devan Ellet, marimba
Winner, Youth Orchestra Concerto competition
NEY ROSAURO Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8, Op. 93, in F major
ELGAR Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 shows a gentle and humorous side of the composer. Elgar paints musical portraits of his dearest friends in the Enigma Variations. It is like being invited to a garden party filled with wit—and a bit of intrigue. This season’s YO Concerto Competition winner performs as well.
Ideal (Dis-) Placements Concert at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
- Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 7:30pm
PHILIPPE MANOURY Pluton for piano and live electronics (1988)
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
3716 Washington Blvd
Middle East Crossroads
CLASSICAL DETOURS
Presented by The Boeing Company
- Friday, March 20, 2009 at 6:30pm
The Middle East is where peoples of the world—with disparate beliefs, customs, religions, and histories—have converged for most of human time. This passionate mingling of cultures, these crossroads of hopes and dreams are the source materials for the finale to this season’s Classical Detours.
$30 Reserved, limited availability | $20 General Admission
Pre-concert happy hour begins at 5:30pm.
Beethoven's "Emperor"
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 8pm
- Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 3pm
David Robertson, conductor
Richard Goode, piano
BRETT DEAN Carlo
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
R. STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben
Three musical portraits. Two composers draw portraits of heroic (and antiheroic) musical figures. Beethoven creates a portrait of power. The soloist for these concerts, Richard Goode, is known for music-making of tremendous emotional power. With Beethoven’s ultimate piano concerto, a well-known classic receives the most unique expression. Expect unexpected passions.
PreConcert Perspective with David Robertson one hour prior to each concert.
Carnegie Hall Preview
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8pm
- Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 3pm
David Robertson, conductor
Karita Mattila, soprano (Whitaker Guest Artist)
Anssi Karttunen, cello
WAGNER Good Friday Music from Parsifal
ZIMMERMANN Canto di Speranza
SIBELIUS Luonnotar
Kaija SAARIAHO Mirage (US Premiere)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5
Tensions build. Worlds break open and take new form. Transformation–magical, mystical, spiritual, physical–is the theme here: contemplations of Good Friday, a cello song of the spirit, the mystery of things seen and unseen, and Sibelius’ wondrous evocation of swans in flight.
PreConcert Perspective with David Robertson one hour prior to each concert.
The 5 Browns
SPECIAL EVENT
- Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 7:30pm
Take five precociously gifted siblings (Juilliard-trained, no less), five pianos, and some of the greatest music ever written, with that music superbly played at a feverpitch by those five siblings—and you get some small sense of the phenomenon that is The 5 Browns. Bring your whole family for an awesome entertainment experience.
The Damnation of Faust
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Friday, April 17, 2009 at 8pm
- Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 8pm
David Zinman, conductor (Whitaker Guest Artist)
Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Polenzani, tenor
Kyle Ketelsen, bass-baritone
Eric Owens, bass-baritone
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director
The St. Louis Children’s Choirs
Barbara Berner, director
BERLIOZ La Damnation de Faust
Berlioz’s journey to damnation transitions from mocking to mirthful to dark and shadowy in a few measures. A theatrical setting can hardly accommodate the shifts in mood, from fiery abyss to the purity of heaven, yet sung and played in concert, the music vividly takes you on Faust’s scandalous (and highly entertaining) descent.
PreConcert Perspective with Hugh Macdonald one hour prior to each concert.
This event is a rental of Powell Symphony Hall and is not presented by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
David Sedaris
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 7pm -
An Evening with David Sedaris at Powell Symphony Hall
Nadja
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
Presented by Thompson Coburn LLP
- Friday, April 24, 2009 at 8pm
- Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 8pm
- Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 3pm
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin (Whitaker Guest Artist)
ELGAR Cockaigne Overture
BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
With the Bruch concerto, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is given a melody that never stops from beginning to end. Watch where it takes her. She nearly took the roof off Powell Hall when she played Tchaikovsky two seasons ago. Just as well, Shostakovich is sure to give you a view of the sky.
PreConcert Perspective with Peter Henderson one hour prior to each concert.
Community Concert
FREE SPECIAL EVENT
Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 6pm
Robert Ray, conductor
Saint Louis Symphony IN UNISON® Chorus
André Thomas, guest conductor
The relationships between the SLSO and the local community continue to grow and evolve, as with this free concert in one of the city’s historic African-American churches. This event takes place at Union Memorial United Methodist Church, located at 1141 Belt, St. Louis. Call 314-533-2500 for details.
Showing Off
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Friday, May 1, 2009 at 10:30am (Coffee Concert)
- Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 8pm
Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2
DEBUSSY/RAVEL Sarabande
FRANCK Symphony in D minor
An artist needs to announce “Here I am!” sometimes. Ravel, paying homage to another, at the same time brilliantly proclaims himself. Franck, late in his life, takes on the symphony, which he does exuberantly. Saint-Saëns wrote this mercurial concerto for himself, and for audiences to exclaim, “Wow!”
PreConcert Perspective with Amy Kaiser one hour prior to each concert.
Youth Orchestra
- Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 3pm
Ward Stare, conductor
James Perretta, cello
Winner, Youth Orchestra Concerto competition
VERDI La forza del destino Overture
ELGAR Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5, Op. 64, E minor
A Verdi overture invites you into the entertainment to come—La forza del destino opens you to a world of romance. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is as dramatic as they come, with the troubled composer making great music out of his anguished heart.
Ode to Joy
PREMIUM ORCHESTRAL SERIES
- Friday, May 8, 2009 at 8pm
- Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 8pm
- Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 3pm
David Robertson, conductor
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Jennifer Dudley, mezzo-soprano
Brandon Jovanovich, tenor
Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director
THOMAS ADÈS Asyla
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9, “Choral”
Beethoven, nearly deaf, must have been composing as if in a dream as he built the rugged grandeur of his final symphony. “All creatures drink joy!” it shouts ecstatically, and ecstasy (the emotion and the drug) is a theme of Thomas Adès’ Asyla. Music starts. Enter dream.
PreConcert Perspective with David Robertson one hour prior to each concert.
Please note there will be no late seating for these performances.
Ideal (Dis-) Placements Concert at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
- Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 7:30pm
JONATHAN HARVEY Death of Light, Light of Death (1998)
HELMUT LACHENMANN Allegro sostenuto (1986-88)
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
3716 Washington Blvd
Address:718 North Grand Boulevard
St. Louis, MO
Box Office: 314-534-1700
General: 314-533-2500
Purchase TicketsCharge by phone at 314-534-1700 . (Mon-Sat, 9am - 5pm). Purchase in person at the Powell Hall Box Office (Mon-Sat, 9am - 5pm).
Directions
FROM I-40/64: Exit I-40/64 East or West at Grand Boulevard, make a right turn and go North on Grand. Powell Symphony Hall is on the right, East, side of the street approximately 1 mile North. Parking is accessed by Samuel Shepard Drive on the South or by Delmar Boulevard on the North side of the building. Due to excessive traffic on Grand Boulevard on concert nights, we suggest using alternative streets including Compton and Vandeventer.
FROM I-70: Exit I-70 East or West at Grand Boulevard, turn South on Grand. Powell Symphony Hall is on the Left, East, side of the street approximately 3 miles South. Parking is accessible off of Delmar Boulevard on the North or by Samuel Shepard Drive on the South side of the building
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