Arkansas Symphony Orchestra opens season with ‘Scheherazade’
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will present the first concert of the 2019-2020 Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks season, “Scheherazade,” on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 29, at 3 p.m. in the Robinson Center.
The ASO collaborates with ACANSA Arts Festival of the South to present American trio, Time for Three, an ensemble that “defies any traditional genre classification,” and prestigious conductor, JoAnn Falletta, a news release said.
The concert will also feature Ravel’s “La Valse,” Higdon’s Concerto
4-3 and will conclude with Rimsky-Korsakov’s colorful musical telling of the “Arabian Nights” legends, “Scheherazade.” The Masterworks Series is sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust.
“This program, led by distinguished conductor Joann Falletta, is vivid, lively, and bursting with character,” said Interim Artistic Director Geoffrey Robson. “Ravel’s ‘La Valse’ was conceived as a ballet and a tribute to the Viennese waltz. Its relentless, adrenaline-soaked rhythmic drive pushes the orchestra to its limits and by design almost breaks apart at the finish. American composing phenom Jennifer Higdon wrote her Concerto 4-3 for the group performing it, Time for Three. The music is steeped in bluegrass, reflecting the eclectic tastes of the performers, who perform with an edgy and multicultural style. Last on the program is the great symphonic favorite ‘Scheherazade,’ based on the ‘Arabian Nights’ folk tales. Four movements of colorful music tell four stories, connected by themes for the dangerous king and the brilliant storyteller Scheherazade herself.”
Tickets are $16, $36, $57, and $70; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased at http://www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Robinson Center street-level box office beginning
90 minutes prior to a concert; or by calling 501-666-1761, ext. 1. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at https://www.arkansassymphony.org/freekids.
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 54th full season in 2019-2020. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, to which the orchestra returned in November 2016 after a twoyear renovation of the historic structure.