LSO offering socially-distanced concerts
LIMA – The Lima Symphony Orchestra has announced plans for their upcoming fall season. The Symphony will move forward with both a November and a Holiday concert; however, due to social distancing and hall capacity limitations, the concerts will be pre-recorded and presented exclusively for a one-time showing each at the Van-del Drive-in, 19986 Lincoln Hwy, Middle Point, on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. Both concerts will be led by newly appointed Music Director Andrew Crust. The Lima Symphony remains committed to bringing concerts and live music to Lima this year, in spite of the Pandemic. However, as rules and mandates have evolved, it has been important to make adjustments in repertoire and the planned delivery of the concerts to keep both musicians and audience members safe and socially distanced
“I’m incredibly proud of the creative and proactive way the Lima Symphony has responded to the Pandemic,” said Executive Director Elizabeth Brown-ellis. “This is certainly not the way we wanted to introduce our new Music Director Andrew Crust to the community, but we are thrilled to have found a way to perform safely when so many other orchestras have had to cancel their seasons. These drive-in concerts will help us continue to engage, heal and unite our community and make meaningful connections with our audience until we can safely gather in the concert hall again.”
“We all miss not only live music, but also the shared experience of being together in the concert hall,” Brown-ellis continued. “The wonderful thing about the Drive-in is that we can recreate that same sense of community in a safe, socially distanced way in our cars.”
The new repertoire for the November concert will feature Bartók’s brusque and jocular “Romanian Folk Dances,” Copland’s American classic “Appalachian Spring Suite,” and Beethoven’s exuberant
“Piano Concerto No. 4.” At the keyboard will be soloist Awadagin Pratt. Winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Pratt is renowned for his musical insight and intensely involving performances. Pratt has toured internationally and performed with nearly every major orchestra in the US, at the White House under two different administrations, and on Sesame Street.
The repertoire for December’s “Bells, Brass & Bows” will now feature Tchaikovsky’s timeless classic, “The Nutcracker Suite.” “The Nutcracker” has become an annual holiday tradition for many around the country in recent decades and the Symphony is so pleased to bring this delightful and uplifting music back to its stage.
Tickets will be $20/person and can be purchased ahead of time online at www.limasymphony.com, by phone at 419-222-5701, or concert night at the Van-del Drive-in.