ROSSINI: The Barber of Seville (excerpts)
ORFF: Carmina Burana

Robert Spano, conductor
Georgia Jarman, soprano
Nicholas Phan, tenor
Matthew Worth, baritone
ASO Chorus
Gwinnett Young Singers

Music Director Robert Spano leads Orff’s timeless Carmina Burana and excerpts from Rossini’s beloved Barber of Seville — classic operas and modern cultural icons — in a spectacular launch to the ASO’s second season at its new summer home. The compelling drama of Carmina Burana has sent pulses racing in films like Excalibur, The Hunt for Red October, and Glory. The Barber of Seville has had a rosier career, animating the antics of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Homer Simpson. Mr. Spano, on a 48-hour break from conducting Wagner’s “Ring” in Seattle, has a superb vocal cast to work with, including the remarkable soprano Georgia Jarman, one of the stars of the ASO’s inaugural season-staging of La Bohéme.

Magnificent Mozart

MOZART: Overture to Marriage of Figaro
MOZART: Piano Concerto in D minor
MOZART: Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”

Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Pedja Muzijevic, piano

Few musical events can rival an evening of Mozart, and this one is doubly blessed with talented principals. Revel in three of the master’s most popular works: the Overture to Marriage of Figaro, with its brilliant coda; the robust and jovial “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41; and the program centerpiece, the adored Piano Concerto in D minor, featuring the superb Bosnian pianist Pedja Muzijevic. Grant Llewellyn, the energetic and “highly valued” (Boston Globe) conductor of the North Carolina Symphony and former director of the Handel and Haydn Society, leads the ASO.

4th of July All-American Celebration

Bridget Reischl, conductor
U.S. Army Chorus

Family fun, patriotic sing-alongs and anthems, and a fiery post-concert blast! Order your picnic basket early and scoot over to Georgia’s new music venue destination — a breeze to get to from all points north, south, east and west of Alpharetta. The American Spirit is alive and well and thriving at a rip-roaring Fourth, with the ASO, the vibrantly gifted conductor Bridget Reischl and the formidable US Army Chorus. And don't miss a special fireworks celebration following the concert!

Star Wars and More

STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra
WILLIAMS: Star Wars suite
HOLST: The Planets

Mei-Ann Chen, conductor

Explore the musical mystique of space travel with a stellar lineup: Holst’s incredible symphonic masterpiece, The Planets (visually dazzling with high-definition footage of the planets shown on the big screens, courtesy of NASA); John Williams’s out-of-this-world Star Wars suite; and Strauss’s thrilling sonic adventure, Also sprach Zarathustra (immortalized in the Stanley Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey). ASO Assistant Conductor and League of American Orchestras Fellow Mei-Ann Chen conducts.

Beethoven Blockbusters

BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7

Hugh Wolff, conductor
Juho Pohjonen, piano

Thrill to two pathbreaking works, the Leonore Overture No. 3 and Symphony No. 7, in which Beethoven set aside thoughts of pleasing the tastemakers and gave full rein to his tempestuous personality. The third work of the evening, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, showcases a rising young star from Finland with enviable credentials: “If we needed proof that exciting new talent is in the pipeline, there was the marvelous American debut of Juho Pohjonen” – New York Times. The eminent international conductor Hugh Wolff conducts.

Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies

Turner Classic Movies Night

Richard Kaufman, conductor
Robert Osborne, host

Last summer’s collaboration with Turner Classic Movies and its charmingly erudite host Robert Osborne was such a hit that the ASO is doing it again. This time, TCM and the Orchestra present “Rodgers & Hammerstein At The Movies,” a toast in film and music to the partnership that forever changed the face of Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Enjoy memorable screen moments from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma and Carousel and more R & H classics, introduced by Mr. Osborne. Veteran Hollywood conductor Richard Kaufman conducts the timeless soundtracks in all their live glory.

Rising Stars!

VERDI: Vespri overture
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4

Ilyich Rivas, conductor
Elena Urioste, violin

*Special Post-Concert Fireworks Finale

The season finale introduces two breakout prodigies with sky’s-the-limit potential. The 16-year-old Venezuelan conductor Ilyich Rivas, touted as perhaps the next Gustavo Dudamel — today’s conductor of the moment, makes his major American orchestra and professional debut conducting Tchaikovsky’s fiercely romantic Symphony No. 4, Verdi’s Vespri Overture, and Mendelssohn’s gorgeous Violin Concerto. The latter work is further illuminated by the 22-year-old violinist Elena Urioste, Junior and Senior Laureate of the prestigious Sphinx Competition for African-American and Latino student-musicians. Her 2008 debut album of sonatas by Beethoven and Janacek marked her as “an emerging artist to watch” in Symphony magazine.