New Mexico Philharmonic to play Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor

Feb. 6—Beethoven's nearly 200-year-old Symphony No. 9 in D minor remains a landmark in the history of music as perhaps the most well-known classical work of all time.

The New Mexico Philharmonic will perform this massive piece on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Popejoy Hall led by music director/conductor Roberto Minczuk.

The singers include soprano Amy Owens, mezzo-soprano Denise Wernly Alsina, tenor Marcos Vigil, baritone Yazid Gray and the Coro Lux Oratorio Society, as well as the Sanctuary Choir of the United Church of Santa Fe.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. When the composer incorporated Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy" poem into his Ninth Symphony, it was a radical call for equality, freedom and brotherhood. It also represents an important stylistic bridge between the Classical and Romantic periods of Western music history. The symphony premiered in 1824 Vienna to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience, and it is widely viewed as Beethoven's greatest composition.

The concert will open with a piece co-commissioned by the New Mexico Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra by contemporary Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid.

Along with composer Missy Mazzoli, Reid co-founded the Luna Composition Lab, a mentorship program for young female, non-binary and gender nonconforming composers.

'The Greatest: Beethoven's 9th'

Presented by New Mexico Philharmonic

WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11

WHERE: Popejoy Hall, University of New Mexico, 203 Cornell Dr. NE

HOW MUCH: $35-$90, plus fees, at nmphil.org, 505-277-4569, popejoypresents.com