Milwaukee – The area’s oldest performing symphony orchestra, Milwaukee’s Festival City Symphony (FCS), has announced its schedule for the 2017-2018 “Symphony Sundays—Classical Music for All Ages” series for general audiences and the “Pajama Jamboree” series for children, parents, and grandparents. In all, the symphony orchestra will perform seven concerts during the upcoming season.
The 2017-2018 Symphony Sundays series will begin with the concert titled Thanksgiving Promises on Sunday, November 12, 2017, with uplifting compositions that evoke appreciation, wonder, and thanks. FCS will feature rich and expansive music from four master composers: William Walton’s “Prelude and Fugue (The Spitfire),” Jennifer Higdon’s “All Things Majestic: I. Teton Range,” Aaron Copland’s grand Suite from “The Tender Land,” and Antonín Dvořák’s graceful “Symphony no. 8, op. 88 in G.”
On Sunday, January 28, 2017, at the conclusion of the 500th anniversary of The Reformation, FCS will perform Saints and Heroes, a concert of majestic music conveying the inspiring spirit and faith of the composers. The concert will feature Ludwig van Beethoven’s heroic “Egmont Overture in F minor, op. 84,” Paul Hindemith’s “Noblissima Visione” celebrating Saint Francis of Assisi, and Felix Mendelssohn’s glorious “Symphony no. 5, op. 107 (Reformation).”
Passion, Beauty, and Light is the title of FCS’s March 25, 2018concert, which will welcome spring with passionate compositions from three of the finest French masters offering unique impressions of the world around us. The orchestra will perform Gabriel Fauré’s beguiling “Pavane, op. 50,” Claude Debussy’s “Nocturnes,” and Georges Bizet’s “L’Arlessienne Suites 1 & 2” with its rousing Farandole. The Hartford Union High School Women’s Chorus directed by Ernie Brusubardis II will guest perform.
The Symphony Sundays season will conclude on May 13, 2018, with Legends and Masters, a concert of captivating music that shares tales of beauty and emotion. The orchestra will perform the Overture to “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber, “Intermezzo in A major, op. 119, no. 2 (Black Swan)” by Johannes Brahms (trans. Sheng), and the Prelude to “Hansel und Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck. Finally, Finnish master Jean Sibelius composed the joy of life, vitality, and “where the stars dwell” with his remarkable “Symphony no. 7, op. 105, in C Major (Fantasia sinfonica no. 1).”
Symphony Sundays concert performances are held at 3 p.m. at the Pabst Theater, 144 East Wells Street. Newly appointed Music Director Carter Simmons looks forward to his inaugural season and to “creating evocative and engaging programs that have elements of serious, new, and light-classical music.” FCS welcomes children to these concerts, which are most appropriate for those in second grade and older. Symphony Sundays also feature “Children’s Program Notes” at 2:45 p.m., a pre-concert activity presented by host Lynn Roginske to help children become familiar with the music they are about to hear.
Admission to each concert is $14 for adults and $8 for children, students, and seniors. Early-bird season ticket packs are available through October 1, 2017. Season ticket packs may be purchased online at festivalcitysymphony.org. Call FCS at 414-365-8861 for information about group ticket sales or purchasing season packs via mail. Individual tickets may be purchased in person at the Pabst Theater Box Office, by calling the box office at 414-286-3205, or online at pabsttheater.org.
Returning again will also be three free “Pajama Jamboree” classical pops concerts, held on select Wednesday evenings from 7-8 p.m. in the Bradley Pavilion of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water Street. Pajama Jamborees are conducted by Music Director Emeritus Monte Perkins and hosted by Jayne Perkins. These popular concerts welcome children, especially in grades kindergarten through fifth, and their parents or grandparents to attend in casual dress or pajamas for open space floor seating up close to “meet” the orchestra. Conventional seating is also available.
The orchestra will begin its Pajama Jamboree concert series on Wednesday, September 27, 2017, with Tunes and Tails. Popular folk singing duo Fox and Branch will join FCS for a concert of fun and interactive music. Orchestral selections include Baby Elephant Walk, Light Cavalry Overture, Pink Panther, and more. The Pajama Jamboree season continues on Wednesday, November 29, 2017, with the Happy Holidays Pajama Jamboree featuring traditional holiday music and a sing-along of seasonal favorites. Whitefish Bay High School’s Madrigal Singers will guest perform. Attendees are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food donation for Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force. This series will conclude on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, with Let’s Meet Beethoven. A costumed actor will portray the musical genius, interacting with the audience as the orchestra performs Beethoven’s music. The concert will close with the popular Festival City Symphony tradition of young audience members conducting the orchestra’s finale.
