The Nashville Symphony is turning 70 during its 2016-17 season. Having performed works from Brahms to The Legend of Zelda suite, the new season will also mark the orchestra's 10th year in the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and will begin with a Bend Folds performance. The season will kick off Sept. 10 and will feature a new work by Edgar Meyer, a performance of Gustav Mahler's Resurrection Symphony and a Ben Folds Piano Concerto.
A part of the symphony's mission is to perform an American piece with each classical show. Speaking of its American segment, Leslie Norton, the orchestra's principal horn and featured soloist of the season, remarked on Folds and Meyer's upcoming performances:
"We are very straitlaced in the way we approach music. To have people like that come in who think outside of the box, who are not wedded to the written page, who are thinking spontaneously, is inspiring. It's also intimidating, because that's just not something we do. They seem to blend those things so well together. We're humbled to see that happen."
The classical series will begin Sept. 22 with Mahler as well as a work composed by Kenneth Schermerhorn entitled Jubilee: A Tennessee Quilting Party for Orchestra. Mr. Schermerhorn served as the symphony's conductor and music director from 1983 until his death in 2005.
Also on the bill is a jazz series that will begin Dec. 9 and premiere three installments. First will be a concert with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. April 21, 2017 will feature Boney James and finally, a May 26 tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong will end the trifecta.
Congratulations to the Nashville Symphony for 70 years of premier programming and exemplary performances.
Have a preview of the symphony below.
