Boise Phil launches its 2021-22 season. It includes live, digital and free concerts
The Boise Phil’s season got off to a rough start when it postponed its first 2021 performance, scheduled for Sept. 18 at the Morrison Center. The Phil canceled the celebratory concert and preseason fundraiser over health concerns as cases of COVID-19 surged in Boise and around the state.
The orchestra canceled live concerts and pivoted to a Digital Stage for its 2020-21 season after the coronavirus pandemic shutdown stopped all performances. Now, Boise Phil music director Eric Garcia is ecstatic to bring live performance back to the Boise community.
“We are really ready to celebrate music’s power to connect us all,” Garcia said in a Zoom interview.
Now with strict health and safety measures in place for audience members, the orchestra is ready for its October concert.
But this season will not be back to normal.
Boise Phil cancels 2021-22 opening concert at Morrison Center, will up COVID measures
To attend a concert you will need to show proof of full vaccination or proof of a lab-confirmed negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 48 hours prior to the event, with a valid photo ID. Masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
The Phil will provide options for its audience, including digital access to performances, and easy ways to change dates and return tickets as things change, Executive Director Laura Reynolds said.
“I think flexibility will be the theme for the season. We just want everyone to feel safe and just be able to enjoy the music,” Reynolds said.
DIGITAL STAGE
As the music happens on the Morrison Center stage — and in some less traditional venues — Phil will provide options for its audience, including the return of the Digital Stage.
One of the lessons of the pandemic lockdown was learning how important it is for the orchestra to connect with its audience outside of the concert hall. So Garcia and his team created free concerts in community venues, including the Boise Art Museum and JUMP.
And this season you’ll also hear a more inclusive range of music, including works by living composers, and composers who are people of color, Indigenous or women.
Boise Phil 2021-22 season
All concerts are at Boise State’s Morrison Center on Saturdays, Northwest Nazarene University’s Brandt Center in Nampa on Sundays.
The Shape of Water, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16; 2 p.m Oct. 17: Guest artists The Percussion Collective Neustadter’s Seabourne with Orchestra; plus the Boise Phil rendition of selections from Duke Ellington’s “The River Suite” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Musical Masterpieces, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7: The Boise Phil Youth Orchestra seniors will perform Academic Festival Overture with the full orchestra. The program rounds out with Mozart’s Symphony No. 31 “Paris” and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7.
Boise Phil Youth Orchestra, 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 13, Morrison Center, Boise. Conducted by Jennifer Drake, youth players will perform works by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and others.
Merry & Bright, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12 in Nampa only: The Phil performs holiday classics old and new with the Boise Phil Master Chorale. The program includes traditional carols from “O, Holy Night” to “Carol of the Bells,” and new favorites, such as music from “Frozen.”
Handel’s Messiah, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 17-18, at St. John’s Cathedral, 707 N. 8th St., Boise: This year the holiday tradition is included in the season lineup. It features guest artists soprano Celia Violetta Lopez, mezzo-soprano Tersa Buchholz, tenor Wesley Morgan, baritone Jose Rubio and the Boise Phil Master Chorale.
Cinema & Sanctuary, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022: The Boise Phil takes Franz Waxman’s Suite from “Sunset Boulevard,” Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carla Maria von Weber,” and Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major.
Spirit & Grace, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, 2 p.m. Sunday Feb. 20: This special program celebrates female composers with Jessie Montgomery’s Banner, Valerie Coleman’s Phenomenal Women and Lili Boulanger ‘s Psalm 130: Du fond de l’abime, featuring the Boise Phil Woodwind Quintet and Seattle Opera mezzo-soprano Margaret Gawrysiak.
Dance, Dance, Dance, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 27; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 28: Boise Phil collaborates with Ballet Idaho for a performance of Rodion Shchedrin’s take on Bizet’s “Carmen” Suite, with choreography by Ricardo Amarante. Also on the program is Arturo Marquez’ Danzion No. 2 and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha Suite.
A Blink in Time, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 15: The season finale concert features Lyric fo Strings by George Walker, Concerto Molto Grosso for Audience and Orchestra, a world premiere from contemporary classical composer Ryan Carter, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Free community concerts
Classical Spotlight, 2 p.m. Oct. 23, Kindred Winery, 14235 Frost Road, Caldwell: The orchestra’s String Quartet and String Sextet are featured playing works by Joseph Bologne and Johannes Brahms.
Music of Remembrance, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5, 2022, Boise Art Museum, 670 Julia Davis Drive: The String Quartet and Woodwind Quintet will perform works by Hindemith, Bernard Heiden and others.
Immerse Yourself, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Pioneer Room at Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, 1000 W. Myrtle St., Boise: Boise Phil’s Percussion Quartet is featured on a program of William Grant Still, Devonte Hynes and a world premiere from contemporary classical composer Ryan Carter, “A Shared Space.”
Health and safety
To attend a concert you will need to show proof of full vaccination or proof of a lab-confirmed negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 48 hours prior to the event, with a valid photo ID. Masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
Tickets:
Boise mini-series (4 concerts): $100-$320 general; Full series (7 concerts): $175-$560 general.
Nampa mini-series (4 concerts): $100-$240 general; Full series (7 concerts): $175-$420 general.
Individual tickets: $28-$89 general in Boise; $28-$67 general in Nampa.
Digital Stage: $9.99 per month or $119 for the year. It also includes access to select pieces from the 2020 series.
All tickets are available at BoisePhil.org/subscribe.
