The Richmond Symphony’s 2021-22 Masterworks concerts will juxtapose repertory staples by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvořák, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich with works by women and composers of color, including the Piano Concerto in one movement by Florence Beatrice Price and “Umoja, Anthem of Unity” by Valerie Coleman.
The season also will mark the 50th anniversary of the Richmond Symphony Chorus with performances of Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in spring 2022.
The orchestra will present eight Masterworks programs on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons – six conducted by Music Director Valentina Peleggi, one each by Chia-Hsuan Lin, the symphony’s associate conductor, and Erin Freeman, director of the Symphony Chorus – at the Carpenter Theatre of Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets in downtown Richmond.
Guest instrumental soloists in the coming season include pianists Louis Schwizgebel in the Price concerto and George Li in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, violinist Stefan Jackiw in Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, and cellist Sterling Elliott, the Newport News-born winner of the 2014 Richmond Symphony Concerto Competition, in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major. Daisuke Yamamoto, the symphony’s concertmaster, will be the solo violinist in Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy.”
In addition to Coleman’s “Umoja,” works by contemporary composers include “Overdrive” by Melissa Dunphy, “Alma’s Songs with Words” by Roxanna Panufnik and “An Act of Resistance” (second reading) by Joel Thompson.
“A Baroque Holiday,” a Christmas concert whose conductor and program will be announced later, is scheduled for Dec. 4 at the Carpenter Theatre. Tickets are $20-$60.
Past subscribers to the Masterworks series are receiving renewal forms by mail. For information on new subscriptions and single-ticket availability, call the symphony’s patron services office at (804) 788-1212, ext. 2 or visit http://richmondsymphony.com
Additional symphony series and special concerts will be announced later, as will plans to continue online streams of concerts for home viewing and listening early in the coming season.
The 2021-22 Masterworks season:
Sept. 25 (8 p.m.)
Sept. 26 (3 p.m.)
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Florence Beatrice Price: Piano Concerto in one movement
Louis Schwizgebel, piano
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”)
other works TBA
Oct. 23 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 24 (3 p.m.)
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Melissa Dunphy: “Overdrive”
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major
Sterling Elliott, cello
Stravinsky: “Pulcinella” Suite
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major (“Classical”)
Nov. 13 (8 p.m.)
Nov. 14 (3 p.m.)
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
other works TBA
Jan. 29 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 30 (3 p.m.)
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Roxanna Panufnik: “Alma’s Songs without Words”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Feb. 26 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 27 (3 p.m.)
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
George Li, piano
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor
March 19 (8 p.m.)
March 20 (3 p.m.)
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Bruch: “Scottish Fantasy”
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor (“Scottish”)
other works TBA
April 9 (8 p.m.)
April 10 (3 p.m.)
Erin Freeman conducting
Haydn: “The Creation”
soloists TBA
Richmond Symphony Chorus
May 21 (8 p.m.)
May 22 (3 p.m.)
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Valerie Coleman: “Umoja, Anthem for Unity”
Joel Thompson: “An Act of Resistance” (second reading)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”)
April Martin, soprano
Stephanie Foley Davis, mezzo-soprano
Rodrick Dixon, tenor
Damien Geter, bass-baritone
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Special concert:
Dec. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center
conductor TBA
“A Baroque Holiday”
program TBA
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