FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR Greetings! We are so grateful to have been able to perform for you last season, albeit on a limited basis, during the pandemic. With the promise of a return to “normal” this coming season we cannot wait to share an incredible season of great music with you in an even more robust format! Many of the coming seasons’ programs were originally scheduled to be performed during last season and we are very excited to finally bring them to you now. We’ll open in September with a perennial audience favorite, Mussorgsky’s vivid Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel. Pianist, Lei Weng, will share the stage performing Gershwin’s jazzy Concerto in F, and we’ll kickoff the program with Michigan composer, Roshanne Etezady’s colorful Diamond Rain. Our friends, Jeans ‘n Classics, will join us in October for an amazing program featuring the music of The Beatles. In another program we had planned to bring you last year, Texas soprano and runner-up on season four of America’s Got Talent, Bárbara Padilla, will join us in November to bring you an eclectic program of Latin classics, popular tunes and opera arias. And in December, plan to join us for our annual celebration to get the holiday season going in the Basin, Sounds of the Season! In January we’ll feature not one, but two of our own MOSC musicians as featured soloists when harpist, Vincent Pierce, and former principal flutist, Melissa Graham Hansen, join together for Mozart’s brilliant Concerto for Flute and Harp. We’ll start the program with an electric work by Jessie Montgomery called "Strum" and finish with the glorious Symphony No. 3 by Franz Schubert. March brings a special “Texas Tribute,” an exclusive program celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the beloved television program, Texas Country Reporter, narrated live by Bob and Kelli Phillips, and presenting Texas history, culture and humor, all accompanied by the orchestra. Tchaikovsky’s thrilling Fourth Symphony headlines the masterworks program in April along with Harumi Rhodes, violinist in the acclaimed Takács Quartet, performing Florence Price’s Second Violin Concerto. And finally, in May, we’ll bring the season to a rousing close with an out-of-this-world program featuring two epic works: John Williams’ "Star Wars Suite" and The Planets by Gustav Holst, accompanied by an incredible video presentation. We all have learned to never take for granted the privilege of sharing great music in a worldclass concert hall like the Wagner Noël. As I wrote last year, the arts have often used their economic impact to justify their existence, but behind that argument lie real social needs. Great music moves us in a way mere words cannot. It provides the reassurance of narrative, the peace of contemplation and - most of all - the power of community, experiences that can be hard to define but which the pandemic made us realize more fully. Vancouver singer/ songwriter Dan Mangan said “What is fulfilling about the arts is not necessarily the art itself but the way it connects us all.” Come celebrate with us and experience the thrilling music we have planned for you. And bring some friends! As we approach the 60th season of the MOSC, our communities need and deserve, more than ever, the thriving, professional orchestra we have built together. It is with your help and support that we will continue to pursue our mission to enrich lives in West Texas through great music. I look forward to meeting you at the concert! Gary Lewis Music Director & Conductor Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra
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Keeping music live!
