Bridgeport Symphony Unveils 63rd Anniversary Season

BRIDGEPORT — Crowd-pleasing themes, brilliant soloists and stirring masterworks are scheduled for Greater Bridgeport Symphony’s 2008-09 concert series.

“Our 2008-09 season will be our 63rd anniversary, and each concert will present some of the best talents on today’s music scene,” promised Jena Maric, GBS executive director “We are currently offering music lovers the opportunity to subscribe to the five-concert series, at a deeply discounted rate, and receive a voucher for up to two extra free tickets to the concert of their choice. The historic Art-Deco Klein Auditorium, our home for the past 62 years, is conveniently located near all major routes, has plush, comfortable seating and wonderful acoustics.

“Our last season was a season of sold-out performances,” she continued. “Our audience growth is due to many factors, including very appealing programming, the artistic quality of the orchestra, and our greatest asset, Maestro Gustav Meier, who returns for his 37th year at the helm of the orchestra.”

“Triple Treat” will be the theme of the opening concert on Saturday, October 18. The program will present Brahms’s monumental Symphony No. 3 in F Major, followed by the debut of pianist/violinist Anita Chen, the 2007 winner of the Symphony’s Carlson-Horn Competition, who will perform Mozart’s rapturous Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major and Paganini’s dazzling Concerto No. 1 in D Major, arranged by the violinist-composer Fritz Kreisler.

“The Spirit of America” will be the theme of the November 15 concert, which will feature a return engagement of the pianist Joel Fan, performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F Major. In November 2005 Mr Fan received a standing ovation for his thrilling performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

The program will also present Bernstein’s joyful Candide Overture, Copland’s quintessential American masterpiece Appalachian Spring, and a new lush symphonic work by Connecticut composer Robert Carl, entitled “The World Turned Upside Down.”

The December 13 performance will be a lively Holiday Pops concert with a rising young star of today’s music scene, guest conductor and violinist Tomasz Golka. Mr Golka was  winner of the 2003 Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition and is music director of the Lubbock (Texas) Symphony Orchestra. The program will offer Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, a Baroque gem; Bach’s Passacaglia & Fugue, one of his most important and well-known works; Borodin’s showpiece Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances, and favorite works of Bizet, Strauss, Anderson, plus a holiday singalong.

“A Night of Passion” on Saturday, March 14, will feature three big romantic works: J. Strauss’s triumphant Kaiser-Walzer Op. 437 (also known as “The Emperor Waltz”), R. Strauss’s exhilarating Der Rosenkavalier Suite, and Tchaikovsky’s exalted Symphony No. 4 in F minor.

Puccini’s smash hit opera, La Boheme (Concert Version), will be the culminating concert of the season on Saturday, April 25. Considered one of opera’s greatest love stories, it will feature four renowned operatic stars: Jennifer Black, soprano; Mark T. Panuccio, tenor; Corey McKern, baritone; and Malinds Haslett, soprano.

All concerts will take place at 8 at the 1,452-seat Klein Memorial Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, which is easily reached from all major routes and accessible to persons with disabilities. Symphony patrons are offered free, attended parking at the municipal parking facility located directly across the street from the hall. A pre-concert musical program is offered in the inner lobby prior to each performance.

The Greater Bridgeport Symphony is currently accepting new subscription orders. Subscribers may save over thirty percent off the price of individual tickets, receive the best seats in the hall, and are entitled to priority renewal and notices to special events. By phoning the GBS Office in advance, subscribers who cannot use their ticket may also receive a tax-deductible credit or may exchange their tickets for another concert.

Subscriptions run from $85 to $210 for the five-concert series, and may be purchased online at www.BridgeportSymphony.org.

Single tickets to individual concerts will go on sale in September. Students under age 21 may purchase box office tickets at half-price in certain price categories. Organizations interested in presenting a special fundraising event or social affair around one of the symphony’s concerts may inquire about special group rates and benefits.

The symphony’s new season brochure, describing programs and soloists, is available by calling the GBS office at 203-576-0263, through the GBS website, or by writing the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, 446 University Avenue, Bridgeport CT 06604.