Saturday, October 25
Romantic Impressions
The Manassas Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro
James Villani, proudly launches its 33rd season with the
return of renowned American pianist Thomas
Pandolfi.
Last dazzling MSO audiences with Liszt in 2022, Pandolfi
returns to the stage to perform Rachmaninoff’s iconic Piano Concerto No. 2 in
C Minor. Celebrated by The Washington Post as “a master of both the grand
gesture and the sensual line” and lauded by D.C. Metro Arts for his “exhilarating…
rare mix of technical accuracy and cool confidence,” Pandolfi promises an evening of unparalleled
artistry.
The program includes Alexander Glazunov’s
enchanting Autumn from The Seasons and Amy Beach’s trailblazing
Gaelic Symphony in E Minor, a cornerstone of American classical music.
Saturday, December 6
Holiday in New Orleans
New Orleans legend and worldwide sensation Doreen Ketchens brings her inimitable style back to
Manassas, once again accompanied by the full orchestra. This time, Doreen is swinging Merchant Hall with
holiday classics in her exclusive Dixieland style. Don’t miss this unforgettable start to the
holiday season!
Doreen is known as the Clarinet Queen of New Orleans — a virtuoso jazz
clarinetist who performs Dixieland and traditional jazz. Described as a cultural ambassador of New Orleans,
she has performed at concert halls, music festivals, and U.S. embassies, as well as for four U.S.
presidents.
As always, we close with the kids’ favorite –
MSO’s always wondrous and colorful Holiday Music and Light Show Spectacular!
Saturday, March 7
Sonic America
For this all-American program, the MSO features its
principal harpist, Melanie Young, in a performance of Ennanga by William
Grant Still.
This rarely heard work for harp, strings, and piano is a vivid reflection of
the ennanga, an African harp-like instrument. Played on a modern harp, the piece has a calming,
restorative quality that gently soothes the soul.
The program continues with Edward
MacDowell’s Suite No. 2, which draws on motifs from the Iroquois, Iowa, and
other Native American tribes to evoke Indigenous life, and concludes with Ferde
Grofé’s iconic and sweeping Grand Canyon Suite.
Saturday, May 7
German Masters
First appearing with the MSO in 2011, violin virtuoso
Andrew Sords returns to Merchant Hall for his third performance, this time showcasing
Richard Strauss’s vibrant and youthful Violin Concerto in D Minor. Composed when Strauss
was only 17, the concerto may be less frequently performed than his later tone poems and operas, but it
remains a captivating showcase of late-Romantic virtuosity and artistic promise.
The concert opens with Leopold Stokowski’s dramatic orchestral
arrangement of J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, made famous by
Disney’s Fantasia. Inspired by a walking tour through the ruins of Holyrood Chapel in
Edinburgh, Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor (“Scottish”)
brings the program — and the MSO’s season — to an exuberant close.
Manassas Symphony Orchestra concerts are supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which
receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal
agency.