Season Four Will Chill, Thrill, and Fill Souls with Music
The Fredericksburg Symphony Orchestra begins its fourth season on October 26 with a Halloween Classics performance.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The best-kept secret in the greater Fredericksburg area is no longer. Entering its Fourth season, the Fredericksburg Symphony Orchestra has established a reputation for excellence, as it brings exceptional symphonic music that is on par with what appears at the Kennedy Center to our north and the Altria Theater to our south.
Kevin Bartram is FSO’s Maestro, and he knows the power the arts have in people’s lives.
In an interview with the Advance before the start of FSO’s third season, Bartram related the following story:
There’s something in art for all of us.
Last spring, in the second half of a concert, I invited all the children to come on the stage and sit next to a musician as we played the original music from “Aladdin.”
One kid walked off stage in the middle of the concert crying, looking like he was distressed. I conducted the rest of that concert in distress myself, thinking I had upset him.
Afterwards, I learned that the boy was autistic and mostly blind. He was crying not out of distress, but because of joy.
Expect all that and more as the FSO begins season four.
A Scary, but Inviting, Beginning
Halloween is a time for tricks and treats and skeletons and jump-scares and … music.
Once again, the classic Fall holiday will serve as the launching pad for the Fredericksburg Symphony Orchestra, which will start its fourth season on October 26, 2024, with its Masterworks “Halloween Classics” performance.
Concert-goers will enjoy movie chills, as Maestro Kevin Bartram’s selections include music from the movie “Jaws” by John Williams. Other selections include:
Tam O’Shanter by Malcolm Arnold
Orpheus in the Underworld Overture by Jacques Offenbach
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas
The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi
“We make the symphony accessible to people from all walks of life,” Executive Director Audra Bielke tells the Advance. “Not only do we strive to offer family-friendly and accessible programing, but we also maintain our commitment to world-class challenging pieces.”
There’s also a surprise piece of music sure to delight the crowd, FSO Executive Director Audra Bielke tells the Advance, but she’s been “sworn to secrecy” as to what it will be.
Masterworks “Halloween Classics”
October 26, 2024, 7:30 pm
James Monroe High School Auditorium
Sponsored by Mary Wynn and Charles McDaniel
Tickets are still available for this show, and range in price from $22 to $68.
Here Comes Santa Claus
The mix of popular and professionally challenging pieces will be carried forward throughout the remaining four concerts for FSO’s 2024-2025 season.
Following the chills of Halloween, the cheer of Christmas takes center stage.
This show “always sells out well in advance,” Bielke tells the Advance.
A bit heavier on the popular music than the other four concerts throughout the season, the show titled “Here Comes Santa Claus” puts the child-like magic associated with Christmas front-and-center.
Music for the concert includes:
Deck the Hall-arr. Mack
Gloria-Randol Bass
A Visit from St. Nicholas-Naughtin
Christmas Canticles-O’Laughlin
Polar Express Suite-Silvestri
O Holy Night-arr. Riley
Performing along with the FSO, Bielke tells the Advance, is Vocal Arts of Fairfax, which is “coming to do a choir accompaniment. This is a crowd pleaser, and you can always expect a visit from Sant Claus.”
Holiday Pops “Here Comes Santa Claus”
December 18, 2024, 7:30 pm
James Monroe High School Auditorium
Sponsored by the Essig Family
Tickets for the General Public go on sale November 18. Symphony supporters can purchase tickets beginning November 11.
What I Did for Love
Valentine’s Day follows, and this year the FSO has a concert for lovers young and old set for February 14, 2025.
“This show,” says Bielke, is “another example of playing artistically difficult and challenging classical pieces.”
This highlight of the show will be renowned pianist Thomas Pandolfi playing “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Other selections for the show include:
Canon in D- Pachelbel
Meditation from “Thais”-Massenet
Enigma Variations-Elgar
Valentine’s Day Concert “What I Did For Love”
February 14, 2025, 7:30 pm
James Monroe High School Auditorium
Sponsored by Tricia and Thom Smelter
Tickets for the General Public go on sale January 13. Symphony supporters can purchase tickets beginning January 6.
Lolli-Pops!
A new addition to the concert lineup this season is “Lolli-Pops! Concerts for Kids ‘A Salute to Mother Earth’” presented by Mary Jane O’Neill.
A number of things set this special concert apart from the other four.
To begin, children 12 and under are admitted for free, and before the concert there’s an instrument “petting zoo.” Children are encouraged to hold orchestra members’ instruments before the show in order to give them some familiarity with stringed instruments, horns, and so much more.
Another difference is that this show is limited to one hour and has no intermission, making it of a length that appeals to younger attention spans.
Music for the show includes:
Variations on a Shaker Hymn-Copland
Over the Rainbow-Arlen
The Orange Blossom Special-Rouse
Under the Sea from Disney’s “Little Mermaid”-Menken
The Moldau-Smetana
“Lolli-Pops! Concerts for Kids ‘A Salute to Mother Earth’ Presented by Mary Jane O’Neill”
March 15, 2025, at 3 pm
James Monroe High School Auditorium
Sponsored by Mary Jane O’Neill
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Finally, for the second year in a row, the FSO will end its concert series with its Season Finale: Guest Artists Series. This year’s concert celebrates the incredible range of work produced by Rodgers & Hammerstein.
For this show, the stars come out. Among those joining the FSO will be Hugh Panaro.
Panaro, a Broadway star best known for his role in The Phantom of the Opera, will also be joined by Scarlett Strallen and by Ben Davis, who played Captain Von Trap on Broadway.
The show will include a number of tunes from the Sound of Music, and other Broadway favorites.
Season Finale: Guest Artists Series “A Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration”
May 17, 2025, 7:30 pm
James Monroe High School Auditorium
Sponsored by Ron and Mary Jane Branscome & Anna and Rob Billingsley
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