[SPECIAL CONCERT] One of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's grandest and best-known choral masterworks is all its glory, performed by the Portland Symphonic Choir.

Steven Zopfi, conductor
• Portland Symphonic Choir
  Gwen Detwiler, soprano
  Dawn Padula, mezzo
  Ross Hauck, tenor
  Charles Robert Stephens, bass


Richard Wagner: Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
• Richard Wagner: Wedding March from Lohengrin
Richard Wagner: Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mass in C minor

Time Magazine has called her "America's best young classical musician." Gramophone named her "artist of the year." Is there a better way for the Oregon Symphony classical series to open than with the long-awaited Portland debut of Hilary Hahn? 

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin

Narong Prangcharoen: Phenomenon
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

What's likely to rank as the highlight on this program of greats: The symphony Mendelssohn created from the majestic church hymn A Mighty Fortress? The concerto many people say is Mozart's finest? You decide.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Jeffrey Kahane, piano

Richard Wagner: Prelude to Parsifal
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5, "Reformation"
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24
Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1

[POPS] Last time Byron Stripling came to town, Portland audiences raved and urged us to bring him back. This time he'll transport you back to the famed Harlem Cotton Club of the 1920s as we perform the intoxicating compositions of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Chick Webb. 

Jeff Tyzik, conductor
Byron Stripling, vocalist and trumpeter
Carmen Bradford, vocalist
Ted Levy, dancer

[KIDS CONCERT] Ahoy, mates!  Join the Oregon Symphony's merry band of pirates on an unforgettable swashbuckling voyage.  The musical booty includes Handel's Water Music, tunes from Pirates of the Caribbean, Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave and Korngold's music to Captain Blood.  Yo Ho Ho!

Gregory Vajda, conductor
Pamela Mahon, narrator

Rarities old and new – from the operatic Rossini to the young Tchaikovsky. And, in between, contemporary composer William Bolcom's unmistakably American Violin Concerto gets its first Oregon Symphony performance ever.

James Gaffigan, conductor
Benjamin Schmid, violin

Gioachino Rossini: Overture to Semiramide
• William Bolcom: Violin Concerto
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1, "Winter Dreams"

[SPECIAL CONCERT] Can you think of a better way to spend Halloween this year: Anthony Perkins. Janet Leigh. That shower scene. We’ll have the classic 1960 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, on screen at the Schnitz, with the Oregon Symphony providing live music! Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee, indeed!

Gregory Vajda, conductor

It's a genuine marriage of the arts as an ensemble of talented actors join the orchestra on stage to perform Falstaff, composer Edward Elgar's astonishingly creative impressions of Shakespeare's most captivating comic character.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
TBA, three actors

Maurice Ravel: Minuet antique
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 38, "Prague"
• Edward Elgar: Falstaff (with actors)
William Walton: Charge and Battle from Suite from Henry V

Count on plenty of fireworks when British pianist Stephen Hough returns to tackle the flamboyant First Piano Concerto of Franz Liszt. Then the heat turns up even higher as Carlos Kalmar and the orchestra take on Mahler's monumental final symphony for the first time in two decades.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano

Giacomo Meyerbeer: Coronation March from Le Prophète
• Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Cooke version)

[SPECIAL CONCERT] The gravity-defying movements and choreography of these aerialists, acrobats, dancers and jugglers captivated us last season – so we invited them back to present their spectacular Holiday show 

Gregory Vajda, conductor
Cirque de la Symphonie, performing artists

[SPECIAL CONCERT] One unforgettable night with the world's favorite cellist: Yo-Yo Ma is back with the Oregon Symphony for the first time since 2001 to perform one of the 20th century's true masterworks, the grand and glorious First Cello Concerto of Dmitri Shostakovich. SOLD OUT!!!

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

John Adams: Slonimsky's Earbox
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1, E-flat major
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov:  Capriccio espagnol

[SPECIAL CONCERT] You already know Béla Fleck is one of a kind. Your cheers raised the roof when he’s appeared with us in the past. He’ll join Music Director Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony once more this December with a special holiday concert unlike any other you’ve ever seen. .

Carlos Kalmar, conductor

[SPECIAL CONCERT] Our annual celebration of the season comes back for a rousing, uplifting and joyous 12th year, with an afternoon performance on Sunday.

Charles Floyd, conductor
Northwest Community Gospel Choir

No matter how many times you've heard Handel's Messiah, you've never heard it like this before! The Portland Symphonic Choir and a stellar cast of soloists join our own Oregon Symphony for one of the most enduring holiday musical traditions.

Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor
Portland Symphonic Chamber Choir 

Nathalie Paulin, soprano; Matthew White, countertenor;
Frédéric Antoun, tenor; Joshua Hopkins, baritone

George Frederic Handel:  Messiah

Our holiday treat for families: best-loved music performed by full orchestra and choir, and a chance to sing along.

Gregory Vajda, conductor

[SPECIAL CONCERT] Joan Rivers goes where others fear to tread. She’s the queen of the zinger, a high-wire artist on the cutting edge of comedy. The comedy legend and subject of the critically acclaimed new film documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, comes to Portland for only one unforgettable live performance this season … and we’ve got her! Be warned: This is not an evening for the faint-hearted!

The Oregon Symphony also performs

[KIDS CONCERT] Join our musical scouting party as we explore the music of the great American West.  You'll feel at home on the range with selections that include music from Copland's Rodeo and Old American Songs, the thunderstorm from Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony and Rossini's William Tell Overture.

David Hattner, conductor
Pamela Mahon, narrator and vocalist
Pacific Youth Choir

He's a seven-time Grammy winner and a genuine A-list pianist praised by The New York Times for his "luminous intensity." When Manny Ax makes a rare Portland appearance, it's certain to be among the season's major highlights. We guarantee it.

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano

Carl Maria von Weber: Overture to Der Freischütz
Marc-André Dalbavie: Color
• Johannes Brahms:  Piano Concerto No. 2

[SPECIAL CONCERT] Brighten up a Portland winter with this great group of dancers and musicians from Argentina. Please note:  The Oregon Symphony does not perform.

Tango Buenos Aires – The Fire and Passion of Tango

[SPECIAL CONCERT] He's baaaack! When Lang Lang performed with the Oregon Symphony two seasons ago, the Portland crowd was blown away by his talent and élan. This time he's going solo. (And we have every reason to expect the audience will be blown away once more.)

Lang Lang, piano

Bach: Partita No.1 in B-flat major
Schubert: Last Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960
Chopin: 12 Etudes, Op. 25

Please note:  The Oregon Symphony does not perform.

[POPS] Classic meets contemporary as the Great White Way returns to Portland's Schnitzer stage.  Three of Broadway's leading ladies sing showstoppers from Evita, Gypsy, A Chorus Line, Wicked and more.  Is there drama in that?  A little "anything you can do, I can do better"?  You bet!

Jeff Tyzik, conductor
Debbie Gravitte, vocalist
Jan Horvath, vocalist
Christiane Noll, vocalist

He just might be the single most unforgettable soloist you see in this or any other season: Colin Currie – the one-of-a-kind percussion wizard – drops into town to perform the Grammy-winning modern musical masterwork composer Jennifer Higdon wrote especially for him. 

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Colin Currie, percussion

Ludwig van Beethoven: Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens
Rodion Shchedrin: Carmen Suite (after Georges Bizet)
• Jennifer Higdon:  Percussion Concerto

She's still only 22, and already she's being hailed worldwide as China's next superstar of the piano! What more thrilling way could there be for Yuja Wang to make her Oregon Symphony debut than with the fiendishly difficult Rach Third?

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano

Johannes Brahms:  Tragic Overture
Carl Nielsen:  Symphony No. 6, "Sinfonia semplice"
• Sergei Rachmaninoff :  Piano Concerto No. 3

The brilliant violinist Jennifer Koh returns to present not one but two dazzling solos – the famous Barber concerto you probably already know and love … plus a small gem by Bartok you're going to love to discover.

Gregory Vajda, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin

Gregory Vajda: Duevoe
• Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
• Bela Bartok: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 7

Sure, you've heard the famous Grieg Piano Concerto before. But you won't hear it quite like this anywhere but Portland, as Favorite Son pianist Thomas Lauderdale – yes, that Thomas Lauderdale – puts his own spin on one of music's most popular masterpieces. 

Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Thomas Lauderdale, piano

Igor Stravinsky: Four Norwegian Moods
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5
• Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto
Arturo Márquez: Danzón No. 2

[SPECIAL CONCERT] When Portland’s very own rock diva made her phenomenal symphony orchestra debut with us this season, it was a night so unforgettable even she said, “We just have to do this again.” So we will.

Gregory Vajda, conductor

[KIDS CONCERT] From tutus to the can-can and Hungarian dances to square dances, the Oregon Symphony – assisted by Dance West –  will make it hard to stay in your seats.  Selections include the Russian Sailor's Dance, Weber's Invitation to the Dance and Tchaikovsky's Waltz from Swan Lake. 

Gregory Vajda, conductor
Pamela Mahon, narrator
Dance West

Expect a night of contrasts as Carlos Kalmar pairs two of the 20th century's most imaginative musical creations: the boldly expressive Violin Concerto of Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian alongside Claude Debussy's sublime, impressionist La Mer.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin

Jean Sibelius: The Oceanides
• Aram Khachaturian: Violin Concerto
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 39
Claude Debussy: La Mer

[POPS] It's hard to believe, but the Beatles gave their last concert in 1966.  More than 40 years will slip away as the Oregon Symphony, Jeff Tyzik and Classical Mystery Tour bring you the music of the Fab Four at their best.  Yes, we have John, Paul, George and Ringo look-alikes, and yes, the '60s will live again.

Jeff Tyzik, conductor
Classical Mystery Tour

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony is the great composer's ode to nature, stormy weather and the great outdoors. Hmm, sound familiar? Maybe we should think of it as the official orchestral soundtrack for life in the Pacific Northwest.

Gunther Herbig, conductor
Natasha Paremski, piano

Bohuslav Martinů: Symphony 6, "Symphonic Fantasias"
• Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral"

Toronto's Globe & Mail calls the terrific Canadian violinist James Ehnes "the Jascha Heifetz of our day." High praise, indeed.  Imagine what he'll be able to do with the first violin concerto of Max Bruch.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
James Ehnes, violin

William Walton: Partita
• Max Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"

[POPS] You've seen them on Dancing With the Stars. You've enjoyed their electric energy and the sizzling music of their native Cuba. Now imagine them backed by the lush string sounds and blazing brass of the Oregon Symphony. By the end of the performance, you'll be on your feet dancing and cheering.  What a great way to end the Pops season!

Jeff Tyzik, conductor
Tiempo Libre

Just before Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony head off to New York and their long-awaited Carnegie Hall debut, they've got one very special themed program planned for their home audience in Portland: "Music for a Time of War."

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Sanford Sylvan, baritone

Charles Ives: Unanswered Question
*John Adams: The Wound-Dresser
Benjamin Britten:  Sinfonia da requiem
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4

Oh, what a year it's been! We bring our spectacular 2010/11 concert season to a close in the best way we know how: With a program planned specifically to highlight the exceptional talent of the Oregon Symphony's own musicians.  

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Orchestra soloists

Featured players include:  Joël Belgique, viola; David Buck, flute; JáTtik Clark, tuba;
Yoshinori Nakao, clarinet; Nancy Ives, cello; Jun Iwasaki, violin

Paul Dukas: La péri Fanfare (all brass)
Paul Hindemith: Trauermusik (Belgique)
Camille Saint-Saëns:  Tarantelle (Buck, Nakao)  
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Pezzo capriccioso
Jeff Tyzik: Jig from Four Dances for Tuba (Clark) 
Maurice Ravel: Tzigane (Iwasaki)
Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra