New works premiere, old favorites return for ProMusica's 2022-23 season
If the new season of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra looks — and sounds — a bit more normal than it has in recent years, that’s pretty much the idea.
“The way I might describe it is, for the first time finally after two years, it feels like our feet are a little bit more firmly planted on the ground rather than jumping around,” said CEO Janet Chen.
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In planning the orchestra’s 2022-23 season, Chen and other orchestra leaders sought to move beyond the pandemic by continuing its usual commitment to performing both classical and contemporary pieces as well as reviving several programs that had been on hold the past two years.
“This coming season’s theme is the continued balance of ProMusica’s quintessential mix,” Chen said. “We will have some tried-and-true favorites, like the full ‘Messiah,’ and then we’re continuing to promote a new work by a living composer pretty much on every concert.”
She added: “We finally feel like, ‘Hey, we’ve landed.’”
That includes the opening weekend concerts on Oct. 8-9, which, like all of the main subscription shows, will take place in the Southern Theatre: In addition to works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Joseph Haydn, Music Director David Danzmayr will lead the orchestra in a performance of the Ohio premiere of contemporary composer Reza Vali’s “The Girl from Shiraz.” Cellist Kian Soltani will serve as the soloist.
Two concerts will feature contemporary musicians performing their own compositions: On March 4-5, Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley will perform his own work “Fidl-Fantazye: A Klezmer Concerto,” and for the season finale on May 13-14, Pulitzer Prize-winning vocalist-composer Caroline Shaw will be featured in her own pieces, “Blueprint for String Quartet,” “Is A Rose” and “Entr’acte for String Orchestra.”
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The new season isn’t just about new works, though. Two beloved programs will resume next season, starting with a performance of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” on Nov. 12-13.
Although the work will not be performed in ProMusica’s usual “sing-along” fashion, there will be plenty of beautiful voices on hand: The orchestra, which has not performed the masterpiece since prior to the pandemic, will be joined by the Lancaster Chorale and soprano Yulia Van Doren, mezzo-soprano Julie Miller, tenor Daniel McGrew and bass Kevin Deas.
“We’re not ready to bring back the sing-along, but we didn’t want to deprive people who have traditionally come to enjoy this amazing work,” Chen said. “‘Messiah’ certainly talks about joy, it talks about celebration. Doing it early in the year made sense to us.”
Also coming back is “Naked Classics,” an educational-style concert in which presenter and host Paul Rissmann does a deep-dive into classical masterpieces and the orchestra will play those same masterpieces. On March 3, two works by Mozart — the composer’s “Symphony No. 1” and “Symphony No. 41” — will be featured.
“(Naked Classics) was a casualty of the pandemic, but we’re so thrilled to have Paul back for that,” Chen said.
Violinist Vadim Gluzman — ProMusica’s longtime principal guest artist and creative partner — will be featured in concerts on Dec. 10-11 and April 15-16.
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Still to be announced are a series of chamber music concerts at the events venue The Fives — as well as some surprises still to come as the orchestra continues to play its way back to normal.
Said Chen: “We have a couple other tricks up our sleeve of different venues and locations that will also be announced at a later time.”
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At a glance
Subscriptions for ProMusica’s 2022-23 season will go on sale on Sunday and are available by visiting www.promusicacolumbus.org or calling 614-464-0066. Tickets to individual concerts will go on sale in September.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ProMusica Chamber Orchestra announces 2022-23 season
