How do you like your music? Bustling? Evocative? Exuberant? Sensuous? Breathtaking? Sparkling? Zesty?

What about all of the above? Join the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra for a buffet of musical offerings that tempts the senses and showcases the variety of orchestral riches that come from Spain. The program includes:

Intermedio from La boda de Luis Alonso – Giménez
Concierto de Aranjuez – Rodrigo (featuring guitarist Carlos Bedoya)
“Canción de la Paloma” from El Barbarillo de Lavapiés – Barbieri (featuring mezzo-soprano Arienne Fort Cannock)
“De España vengo” from El niño judío – Luna (featuring mezzo-soprano Arienne Fort Cannock)
Danzas fantásticas – Turina
Selections from Suite Española – Albéniz
Spanish Dance No. 1 from La Vida breve – Falla

Come broaden your palate and explore the musical delicacies of Spain with us!

Join us at 4pm for a wonderful pre-concert talk led by musicologist Dr. Christine Wisch. In this talk, Dr. Wisch will explore some of the challenges of performing orchestral repertoire from Spain and will offer an introduction to the many styles and genres of music represented in the BSO’s program.

Learn more at https://www.bloomingtonsymphony.com/events/

‘Tis the season…for music!

This year, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra’s traditional holiday celebration will include fresh faces from the Bridges Musical Arts Youth Organization. We’re partnering with Bridges MAYO to present a wild, wintry musical adventure. From waltzes to rockets, kings to wizards, traditional holiday tunes to some pretty big surprises…this concert is sure to delight the whole family!

Our 5pm show gets out in time for everyone to watch the Canopy of Lights, while our 8pm show ends your evening in a festive holiday mood. Doors open for the 5pm show at 4:30pm. Doors open for the 8pm show at 7:30pm. The 8pm show will be 90 minutes.

Get your tickets today, and get in the mood for the holidays!
Learn more at https://www.bloomingtonsymphony.com/events/

Escape to the countryside with Dvorak’s 8th Symphony.

Antonín Dvořák found inspiration, respite, and sheer joy in the forests surrounding his country home. Biographer Hanz-Hubert Schönzeler observed, “When one walks in those forests surrounding Dvořák’s country home on a sunny summer’s day, with the birds singing and the leaves of trees rustling in a gentle breeze, one can virtually hear the music.”

Also on the program, French composer Gabriel Pierné’s delightful Concertstück for Harp and Orchestra, Op. 39, and Jessie Montgomery’s moving orchestral tribute to the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner, entitled Banner.

Symphony No. 8 in G, op. 88 – Dvořák
Concertstück for Harp and Orchestra, Op. 39 – Pierné
Banner – Montgomery

Learn more at https://www.bloomingtonsymphony.com/events/

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra’s season finale takes us on an emotionally-charged tour of Paris. From Lili Boulanger’s tragic, intimate musings on her own small world to the grandiose excesses of Berlioz’s exploration of obsessive love, this will be a program to remember!

Lili Boulanger is often overlooked compared to her better-known sister, Nadia, however she was also a groundbreaking composer in her own right. D’un soir triste (Of a Sad Evening) is shrouded in dark orchestral colors and pushes the boundaries of conventional harmonies for its time. This personal and expressive sonic exploration was completed only a few months before Lili died at the young age of 24.

The shocking originality of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique goes well beyond the programmatic to enter the realm of the psychological. Its exploration of an unstable, drug-addled mind spills into hallucinations, and is both disturbing and enervating. We hope you’ll join us for this very special, thought-provoking program.

Program:
Symphonie fantastique – Berlioz
D’un soir triste – Boulanger

Learn more at https://www.bloomingtonsymphony.com/events/