The Score | Opening Nights 2.0 Westerville

Music lovers traditionally look forward to the start of the orchestra season, often an evening featuring a concerto with star soloist, a popular favorite such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and a glittery parade of gowns and tuxedos. This fall also saw a notable variety of alternative approaches taken by orchestras to opening night. In Ohio, the Westerville Symphony aimed to “bring in a more relaxed environment,” said Executive Director Sean Brewster, by encouraging people to tweet comments using their phones. A Twitter feed from audience members could be seen on a large screen to the side of the orchestra during a program featuring twelve-year-old pianist Gavin George, a native of Granville, performing Rachmaninoff ’s Piano Concerto. The Philadelphia Orchestra went the Fantasia route for its opening concert at the Kimmel Center, which marked the 75th anniversary of the famous 1940 Disney film featuring Leopold Stokowski leading the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the concert, which featured Stokowski’s arrangements of Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker against the backdrop of images from the film. Pennsylvania’s Lancaster Symphony opened the season with a family-friendly concert featuring selections from Frozen, Star Wars, and The Wizard of Oz; also included were a costume parade for children and a photo station. The Seattle Symphony rolled out a new piano competition during the first week of its fall season. Winner Kevin Ahfat received $10,000 and a performance on the orchestra’s September 19 season-opening concert. Kentucky’s Louisville Orchestra and Music Director Teddy Abrams opened the season with a staged production of Bernstein’s sprawling Mass, with a cast that included baritone Jubilant Sykes, the University of Louisville Collegiate Chorale, Louisville Chamber Choir, Louisville Male High School Marching Band, and Highland Hills Middle School Boys Choir. California’s Santa Barbara Symphony teamed up with dancers from State Street Ballet and singers from the Santa Barbara Choral Society for its opening concert of Orff ’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, led by Music Director Nir Kabaretti and Santa Barbara Choral Society Artistic Director JoAnne Wasserman. San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra marked Music Director Nicholas McGegan’s 30th anniversary leading the orchestra by performing a newly discovered work by Alessandro Scarlatti: La Gloria di Primavera (The Glory of Spring). In Iowa, the Des Moines Symphony and Music Director Joseph Giunta opened the season with a world premiere: Peter Hamlin’s Symphony On A Stick, a piece celebrating the Iowa State Fair, accompanied by cinematography of the Fair projected above the orchestra. The Chicago Sinfonietta opened its season with flamenco dancers from the Clinard Dance Company and tap dancer Cartier Williams, who joined the orchestra and Music Director Mei-Ann Chen for works by Roberto Sierra, Stravinsky, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov. In Texas, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra opened its eleventh season by performing the first of eleven 2015-16 world premieres: Rick Robinson’s Gitcha Groove On! Robinson is ROCO’s Music Alive: New Partnerships Composer-in-Residence this season.