Mark Gresham | 12 JAN 2024
Ft. Worth, TX— Yesterday evening, at a special event for the occasion, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra unveiled its 2024-25 season lineup that includes a 10-program Symphonic Series at Bass Performance Hall, three Chamber Series concerts at Kimball Art Museum, a Pops Series, a Family Series, and six “specials” — including a one-night-only Gala concert featuring Joyce DiDonato, and led by FWSO music director Robert Spano.
For Spano, the orchestra’s esteemed music director, 2024/25 sill be his third season at the helm of the FWSO. Spano will conduct six of the 10 Symphonic Series programs and perform as pianist in two of the three Chamber Series concerts; principal guest conductor Kevin John Edusei will lead two of the Symphonic Series programs. Guest conductors Jane Glover and James Conlon will each lead a single program.
Distinguished soloists in the Symphonic Series will include pianist Angela Hewitt, violinist James Ehnes, and three FWSO musicians: violinist Michael Shih, violist DJ Cheek, and cellist Allan Steele. Adding an extra touch of glamour to the season, star coloratura mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will take center stage in the special Gala Concert, promising an evening of unparalleled musical brilliance.
One of the season’s most anticipated performances will be the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0, with a libretto crafted by Anita Amirrezvani, which explores ecological themes and will feature countertenor Key’mon Murrah and dance by the renowned Urban Bush Women.
The Atlanta-based movement (dance) company gloATL will take part in a performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring – a work in which Spano and gloATL choreographer/director Lauri Stallings have collaborated previously in a two-piano version at The Goat Farm in Atlanta in 2016. This FWSO performance promises to involve new choreography by Stallings, with whom Spano has worked on multiple projects in the past, including their first collaboration in 2011, Kaija Saariaho’s Maá, which also involved contemporary music ensemble Sonic Generator.
The penultimate program, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, and Fort Worth’s semi-staged rendition of Richard Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman, which closes the season and features the distinguished Wagnerian bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, promise to be major highlights.
As of this writing, the FWSO website states that subscriptions to the 24-25 Season will go on sale soon. Details will become available at fwsymphony.org/concerts-tickets/24-25-season. Chronological listings of the FWSO Symphonic Series, Gala Concert, and Chamber Series, including programming and artists, appear below. ■
FWSO 2024–2025 Symphonic Series
All concerts in Bass Performance Hall, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm.
- September 6, 7, 8, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; James Ehnes, violin
BERLIOZ: Roman Carnival Overture
SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique” - September 27, 28, 29, 2024
Kevin John Edusei, conductor
MOZART: Overture to Don Giovanni, KV527
ZEMLINSKY: Sinfonietta, Op. 23
R. STRAUSS: Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64 - October 11, 12, 13, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; Allan Steele, cello.
DEBUSSY: Prélude à l’aprés-midi d’un faune, L. 86
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique - October 25, 26, 27, 2024
Jane Glover, conductor; Angela Hewitt, piano.
BRITTEN: Suite on English Folk Tunes
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, KV503
RAVEL: Le tombeau de Couperin
MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D Major, KV297/300a, “Paris” - December 6, 7, 8, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; Key’mon Murrah, counter-tenor; Urban Bush Women, dancer, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, choreographer/director; Jake Heggie, composer.
HEGGIE: Earth 2.0 (world premiere)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, “Eroica” - January 3, 4, 5, 2025
James Conlon, conductor.
MOZART: Overture to Der Schauspieldirektor, KV486
MOZART: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV550
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New World” - January 17, 18, 19, 2025
Kevin John Edusei, conductor; Michael Shih, violin; DJ Cheek, viola.
STRAUSS: Don Juan, Op. 20
MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, KV364/320d
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 82 - January 31, February 1, 2, 2025
Robert Spano, conductor; gloATL, dancers, Lauri Stallings, choreographer/director.
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade, Op. 35
STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring - March 14, 15, 16, 2025
Robert Spano, conductor.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 - April 11, 12, 13, 2025
Robert Spano, conductor; Greer Grimsley, bass-baritone; Heidi Melton, soprano; Kyle Van Schoonhoven, tenor; Ray Aceto, bass; Luretta Bybee, mezzo-soprano; Billie Bruley, tenor.
WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman (semi-staged)
FWSO 2024–2025 Gala Concert
Bass Performance Hall at 7:30pm.
- MAR 1, 2025
Robert Spano, conductor; Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano.
program TBA
FWSO 2024–2025 Chamber Series
All concerts are at Kimbell Art Museum, on Sundays at 3:00pm.
- November 24, 2024
FWSO musicians.
MOZART: Serenade No. 12 in C minor, KV388/384a
SCHULHOFF: Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon
KORNGOLD: Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 1 - February 23, 2025
Robert Spano, piano; FWSO musicians.
SCHOENBERG: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4
BRAHMS: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 - May 4, 2025
Robert Spano, piano; Pedja Mužijević, piano.
MENDELSSOHN: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
BARBER: Summer Music, Op. 31
DEBUSSY: En blanc et noir
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra: fwsymphony.org
- Robert Spano: robertspanomusic.com
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