SHADOWS, TALES AND DREAMS

dec 21 | 7:30pm courthouse square ballroom, tacoma
Dec 22 | 2pm Pioneer park pavilion, puyallup

baroque in the ballroom: goldberg variations

Northwest Sinfonietta Trio
Denise Dillenbeck violin
Caitlyn Fukai viola
Mara Finkenstein cello

J.S. Bach / Sitkovetsky Goldberg Variations

J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations has obsessed performers and audiences for nearly 300 years. Beginning with a simple dance melody, Bach creates fractals of endless variation and imagination. A trio of Northwest Sinfonietta musicians performs this brilliant arrangement by Dmitry Sitkovestsky in-the-round, taking you on a candlelit voyage into the infinite and back.

Running time — 70 min. This concert will be performed with no intermission. Reception following.

NEW EVENT FOR TICKET HOLDERS! Join us on Thursday, Dec. 12 for a special pre-concert discussion event at Meeker Mansion with composer Gregory Youtz and NWS Concertmaster Denise Dillenbeck. Space is limited. More information and registration HERE.

Jan 25 | 7:30pm schneebeck concert hall, university of puget sound, tacoma
jan 26 | 2pm Pioneer park pavilion, puyallup

immortal beloved

Mei-Ann Chen conductor
Denise Dillenbeck violin
Maria Sampen, Alistair MacRae and Ronaldo Rolim Puget Sound Piano Trio

Beethoven Fidelio Overture
Nancy Ives Immortal Beloved (World Premiere)
Beethoven Triple Concerto

Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen leads the Sinfonietta in an exploration of one of music’s most enduring mysteries: the true identity of Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved.” In this new violin concerto composed by Nancy Ives for Concertmaster Denise Dillenbeck, Ives tells the stories of three women
in Beethoven’s life, each with such talents and fortitude of spirit that they may have inspired his undying affection.
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano featuring the Puget Sound Piano Trio closes the program.

Running time with intermission — 95 min

march 8 | 7:30pm rialto theater, Tacoma
march 9 | 2pm pioneer park Pavilion

freedom song

Jeffery Meyer conductor
Taylor Raven mezzo soprano
Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center
Tacoma Youth Chorus
Tacoma Youth Symphony Association

Jessie Montgomery Five Freedom Songs
Rollo Dilworth Dreams Take Flight Suite
Quinn Mason Serenade for Strings (World Premiere)
Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings

Featuring vocal sensation Taylor Raven and area youth from Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, Tacoma Youth Chorus and Tacoma Youth Symphony, this program will inspire and move you. On the first half, Jessie Montgomery uses the stories behind five spirituals to weave her powerful Five Freedom Songs for voice and strings, followed by a suite of works inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes. On the second half, Northwest Sinfonietta’s strings premiere a new serenade by Quinn Mason, followed by Tchaikovsky’s beloved Serenade for Strings performed side-by-side with members of Tacoma Youth Symphony.

Running time with intermission — approximately 110 min

may 17 | 7:30pm rialto theater, tacoma
May 18 | 2pm pioneer park pavilion, puyallup

a midsummer night’s dream

Mei-Ann Chen conductor
Collaboration with Puget Sound Revels

Kian Ravaei Majnun in the Wilderness (World Premiere)
Richard Danielpour Breaking the Veil
Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream Incidental Music

Enter a Shakespearean midsummer night’s dream through Mendelssohn’s magical incidental music, where elves, fairies and spells have their way with we mere mortals. Puget Sound Revels partners for this performance, bringing the scenes to life with narration, costuming and tableau. This final program of our storytelling season, led by artistic partner Mei-Ann Chen, opens with two works drawing on the Persian heritage of living composers Kian Ravaei and Richard Danielpour.

Running time with intermission — approximately 95 min