Fairfax Symphony Announces Golden Anniversary Season

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra has reached a golden milestone. The group that started from an inspired moment in a garden club meeting 50 years ago has grown into one of the finest regional orchestras in the United States. Critically acclaimed, with a strong reputation for artistic excellence, the FSO offers innovative programs and outstanding guest artists -both established names and emerging talent in the classical music world.

Fifty years after inception, the name "Fairfax" still indicates the orchestra's home base and point of origin; however, subscribers come from many Virginia counties, Washington, DC and even Maryland. Educational programs reach even further.

The Fairfax Symphony proudly announces its Golden Anniversary Season. During this historic season the Orchestra will also celebrate the 35th year of artistic leadership by Music Director and Conductor William Hudson. The FSO has grown during Maestro Hudson's tenure from a volunteer community orchestra in 1971 into the fine professional orchestra it is today. As part of its Golden Anniversary celebration, FSO has added a Gala Anniversary Concert in June 2007 to celebrate and recognize the achievements of the ensemble and Maestro Hudson.

For the 2007 season, the orchestra offers a subscription series of five Masterworks concerts at George Mason University's Center for the Arts, as well as four non-subscription concerts -an October concert included in George Mason's "Great Performance" series, a Holiday Pops marking the winter holidays, a fundraising Valentine's Gala in February, and a Golden Gala concert at season's end in celebration of its anniversary. The music does not end - even in summer. The FSO continues its role as the resident symphony of the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival with two concerts in the last week of July.

The Masterworks Series

The five-program Masterworks series boasts two local premieres as well as a number of familiar favorites. The repertoire extends from Bach and Mozart to brand-new music by two highly acclaimed composers, Joan Tower and Jennifer Higdon. Ms. Tower will make her local guest conducting debut on March 17, 2007 leading her recent work, Made in America. Ms. Higdon will be represented in April by the local premiere of her new "Oboe Concerto," performed by John Ferrillo, principal oboist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a former member of the Fairfax Symphony.

March: On March 17, 2007 Maestro William Hudson welcomes acclaimed American composer Joan Tower to the podium to guest conduct her new work, Made in America. The music was commissioned by a consortium of orchestras organized through a collaboration of the American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet the Composer, Inc. Ford Motor Company funded the project. Her piece was inspired by her experience of living as a child in Bolivia, and her reflections on what it meant to return to the U. S. and "have free choices, upward mobility, and the chance to try to become what I wanted to be," she says. In making sketches for the music, she found the melody of "America the Beautiful" repeatedly sneaking into her consciousness. It eventually became the basis of the piece. The program also features the amazing 15-year-old pianist Ji-Yong playing Beethoven's dramatic Third Piano Concerto. At the age of ten Ji-Yong was the youngest person ever to win the New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition. The program closes with Dvorak's beloved "New World" Symphony.

April: The FSO gives the Washington-area premiere of the new Oboe Concerto by Jennifer Higdon on its concert of April 21, 2007. Ms. Higdon is one of the most prominent and frequently performed of today's composers. Soloist John Ferrillo, principal oboe of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, introduces this lyrical gem to local audiences. Then, to complement the new Higdon piece, he joins FSO concertmaster David Salness to play the Bach Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060. The evening opens with Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and closes with the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier of Richard Strauss.

May: For the closing concert of the Masterwork series, FSO is joined on May 12, 2007 by the Fairfax Choral Society and outstanding pianist Brian Ganz for a rendition of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, a unique work utilizing both solo piano and chorus with orchestra. FSO principal players, flutist Lawrence Ink and harpist Kate Hazzard Rogers, perform Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp. On the same program Maestro Hudson conducts the light-hearted ballet suite The Incredible Flutist by Walter Piston, and Douglas Mears, Artistic Director of the Fairfax Choral Society, conducts Poulenc's Gloria for chorus and orchestra.

By www.fairfaxsymphony.org