Where will the
music take you?
2019–2020 Symphony Season Concerts
Each season is a passage of heart, mind and spirit for the audience and our Orchestra. Each program is an adventure, each a special destination. Our artists rise to the challenges of many styles, genres and periods, leading you across continents, through time. The concerts this season will be an oasis of serenity, excitement, and above all, delight. Come with us on the journey!
Just let the music take you…
Dvořák Requiem
Composed at the peak of Dvořák’s career, the Requiem is a profound expression of his genius.
April 3, 4, 5, 2020
John DeMain, Conductor
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
Ann Toomey, Soprano
Julie Miller, Mezzo-soprano
Eric Barry, Tenor
Matt Boehler, Bass
Piano Power
The Russian-Israeli powerhouse returns to perform Brahms’s first piano concerto. Its grandeur and thrilling technical difficulties have given it a deserved place among the towering keyboard masterpieces of all time.
May 1, 2, 3, 2020
John DeMain, Conductor
Yefim Bronfman, Piano
PROGRAM
Weber, Overture from Euryanthe
Stravinsky, Petruchka
Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Past Performances
Season Premiere: Love, Lust & Redemption
Wagner and Debussy explored tonal sensuality, and Dvořák prayed that his paean to the Czech nation would “move the world” (it did). But Barber’s powerful Toccata will move you in Greg Zelek’s masterful performance on the Colossal Klais.
September 27, 28, 29, 2019
John DeMain, Conductor
Greg Zelek, Organ
PROGRAM
Wagner, Tannhäuser: Overture and Venusberg Music
Barber, Toccata Festiva
Debussy, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Dvořák, Symphony No. 7
Rachel Barton Pine Plays Khachaturian
Hear three brilliant Soviet composers prove they deserve their wild popularity. Ms. Pine appears in her Madison Symphony debut, one long overdue!
October 18, 19, 20, 2019
John DeMain, Conductor
Rachel Barton Pine, Violin
PROGRAM
Prokofiev, Suite from Lieutenant Kijé
Khachaturian, Violin Concerto in D minor
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 9
Joyce Yang Plays Prokofiev
Troubled with depression and hearing loss, Schumann reached deep to create the uplifting Symphony No. 2, a Beethovenian triumph over pessimism and despair. And Prokofiev’s third piano concerto radiates vitality and confidence. The power and agility of Joyce Yang is a perfect match for this demanding masterwork.
November 8, 9, 10, 2019
John DeMain, Conductor
Joyce Yang, Piano
PROGRAM
Kernis, Newly Drawn Sky
Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major
Schumann, Symphony No. 2
A Madison Symphony Christmas
This beloved annual tradition embraces the season with Christmas classics and enchanting new music featuring the orchestra, three choruses and opera stars. From caroling in the lobby, to the final sing-along, you will be energized with holiday spirit when you emerge from this concert.
December 13, 14, 15, 2019
John DeMain, Conductor
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
Mount Zion Gospel Choir, Leotha and Tamera Stanley, Directors
Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, Artistic Director
Mackenzie Whitney, Tenor
Michelle Johnson, Soprano
Beyond the Score®
Sergei Prokofiev, Symphony No. 5, Pure Propaganda?
A multimedia presentation starring American Players Theatre actors, visual projections and live musical examples!
Journey into the heart of the music with Beyond the Score®. Prokofiev’s popular Symphony No. 5 was a hit at home and deemed a musical celebration to the end of World War II. Discover how his experiences in America and his return to the Soviet homeland after the war instilled his belief that music should be directed towards the heroic, the beautiful, and the strong. Experience the entire work performed in the second half of the concert with a deeper understanding of the language of the composer — what he wants to express, and how he expresses it.
ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!
January 19, 2020
John DeMain, Conductor
James Ridge, Actor
Collen Madden, Actor
Marcus Truschinski, Actor
Sarah Day, Actor
Dan Lyons, Piano
This first-choice advance ticket opportunity is available ONLY to MSO subscribers, and is separate from the 2019–2020 subscription. Purchase tickets along with your subscription for the best possible seats before single tickets go on sale August 17, 2019.
Beyond the Score® is a production of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Gerard McBurney, Creative Director for Beyond the Score®
Romantic Encounter
Pinchas Zukerman & Amanda Forsyth
The Brahms Double
Between the brash phalanx of Berlioz’s swashbuckling brass and the thundering gravitas of Copland’s iconic “Fanfare for the Common Man” (in Symphony No. 3), we welcome Pinchas and Amanda as they reprise their fabulous performance of the Brahms Double Concerto, with which the duo made their Madison Symphony debut in 2001.
February 14, 15, 16, 2020
John DeMain, Conductor
Pinchas Zukerman, Violin
Amanda Forsyth, Cello
PROGRAM
Berlioz, Le Corsaire Overture
Brahms, Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor
Copland, Symphony No. 3
The Miracle
Blake Pouliot Plays Mendelssohn
Kenneth Woods Conducts
Symphony No. 96 is popularly called the Miracle Symphony because it is said that, during its premiere, a chandelier crashed to the floor from the ceiling of the concert hall. The audience managed to dodge the chandelier, thus the nickname.
March 6, 7, 8, 2020
Kenneth Woods, Guest Conductor
Blake Pouliot, Violin
PROGRAM
Haydn, Symphony No. 96, Miracle
Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E minor
Strauss, Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life)