March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 45 F

COVID can’t keep the Annapolis Symphony down. Enter Symphony+

When COVID-19 hit Maryland in March, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra Music Director José-Luis Novo was well into preparation for the 2020-21 Masterworks Series “Harmony in Nature.” In a matter of days, everything changed.

“It was impossible to predict that we would find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic, affecting everyone to an extent we have never experienced before,” said Maestro Novo.

The continuing pandemic fueled a decision to forego in-house audiences for virtual concerts until official guidelines allow, not excluding the possibility that limited seating concerts could begin gradually as Maryland’s COVID-19 cases decline.

“To launch our new season, we had to reimagine the complete symphony experience,” said ASO Executive Director Edgar Herrera. “We had to find ways to comply with pandemic restrictions while delivering our standard of musical excellence to patrons in their homes. In order to do that, we needed the best technology available.”

This led to the development of Symphony+, a comprehensive virtual platform powered by Vimeo Over the Top (OTT) comprised of three unique components:

  • ASO Live! – A live stream of each concert in the 2020-21 Masterworks Series “Harmony In Nature” and Holiday Classics with Music Director José-Luis Novo and the Orchestra from the Music Center at Strathmore utilizing the Center’s existing multi-camera capabilities for patron’s enhanced viewing experience.
  • ASO RePlay – the ability to access previous ASO Live! performances, including additional content such as ASO Chats, past performances, interviews, and behind-the-scenes video.
  • ASO Chats – virtual offering of the popular pre-concert talks with Dr. Rachel Franklin. These 45-minute discussions will cover history, musical examples, stories, and anecdotes of the composers. Available for unlimited viewing a few days prior to the concert on ASO RePlay.

The All-Access Household Pass for Symphony+ is $99. This includes all ASO Live! Masterworks live stream performances, the Holiday Classic concert, six pre-concert ASO Chats and unlimited ASO RePlay. A single ASO Live! Household ticket for real-time viewing of one concert is $49. Tickets are available beginning September 8, at AnnapolisSymphony.org/VirtualSeries or the box office at 410.263.0907.

2020-21 Masterworks Series “Harmony In Nature” 

“Harmony In Nature” is a season-long theme highlighting composers and works inspired by timeless Mother Nature. Concerts will be virtual until official guidelines allow the ASO to proceed with limited seating performances. To allow for social distancing on stage, the Symphony has adjusted its program through December to involve only string, percussion, keyboard, and harp. Unless otherwise noted, performances will be at the Music Center at Strathmore, of which the Symphony is an affiliate member, to utilize its larger stage and multi-camera capabilities.

The second program “Copland Clarinet Concerto” embraces the season-long theme of Harmony in Nature both through poetry and music in the works of Catalonian composer Eduard Toldrà and American Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Toldrà’s music has a light Mediterranean accent, while Perkinson’s is personal and provocative. The inclusion of both Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Afro-British) and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (African American) in the same program is a deliberate effort from the ASO to reflect the current social and civil unrest and to reach out to the underrepresented musical culture of the African American community. Connecting beautifully with this subject, the Copland Clarinet Concerto brings this program to a glorious end with his masterful assimilation of the jazz idiom into the symphonic repertoire. 

The Four Seasons – Piazzolla 

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Astor Piazzolla, Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) – Chee Yun, violin

George Walker, Lyric for Strings

Edward Elgar, Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47

ASO Chats September 17, 2020, 7 PM | Piazzolla and His Contemporaries

ASO Live! September 26, 2020 | 8 PM | The Music Center at Strathmore

ASO RePlay available the week of October 5, 2020

Copland Clarinet Concerto 

Eduard Toldrà, Vistas al mar 

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Novelette in A major, op. 52 No. 1

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Grass, Poem for Piano, Strings & Percussion

Aaron Copland, Clarinet Concerto – Robert DiLutis, clarinet

ASO Chats October 8, 2020, 7 PM | The Greatness of Copland

ASO Live! October 24, 2020 | 8 PM | The Music Center at Strathmore

ASO RePlay available on the week of November 2, 2020

 Holiday Classics 

Holiday favorites and classical selections by Arcangelo Corelli, Johann Strauss, Scott Joplin, and Leroy Anderson, among others.

ASO Chats December 3, 2020, 7 PM | Holiday Classics Stories

ASO Live! December 18, 2020 | 8 PM | The Music Center at Strathmore

ASO RePlay available on the week of December 21, 2020

Billy the Kid – Copland 

Felix Mendelssohn, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture, Op. 27

Richard Strauss, Four Last Songs – Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano

Florence Price, Mississippi River Suite

Aaron Copland, Billy the Kid, Ballet Suite

ASO Chats February 11, 2021, 7 PM | The Greatness of Copland II

ASO Live! February 27, 2021 | 8 PM | Maryland Hall

ASO RePlay available the week of March 8, 2021

Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 

Jean Sibelius, Tapiola

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 – Olga Kern, piano

Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)

ASO Chats March 4, 2021, 7 PM | Greatest Piano Concerto Ever?

ASO Live! March 21, 2021 | 2 PM | The Music Center at Strathmore

ASO RePlay available the week of March 29, 2021

Debussy’s La Mer 

Tan Dun, Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds.

Zhao Jiping, Pipa Concerto No.2 – Wu Man, pipa

Claude Debussy, Nuages and Fêtes from Nocturnes 

Claude Debussy, La Mer

ASO Chats April 15, 2020, 7 PM | The Importance of Being Debussy

ASO Live! May 1, 2021 | 8 PM | Maryland Hall

ASO RePlay available the week of May 10, 2021

 

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