Tuesday, April 23, (2024) — The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) has announced their 2024/25 season, the 96th in the Symphony’s history. Designed from the ground up to showcase the unique qualities of the city named the best in the U.S. for quality of life (CNBC), the A2SO’s 24/25 season themes reflect the orchestra’s heritage of service throughout Southeast Michigan. From September 2024 through May 2025, the A2SO’s season will feature internationally acclaimed soloists, thoughtfully selected venues, dynamic and soul-nourishing programming, and exceptional performances from some of the Mid ..read more

Jeremy Reynolds is the classical music critic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the editor of Opera America Magazine, and the program note annotator for about a dozen orchestras around the country, including the A2SO. He writes. About music. A lot. An Oberlin-trained clarinetist, Reynolds earned a master’s in journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and has written for national and international music publications including Opera, Symphony Magazine, Early Music America Magazine, Carnegie Hall: Beyond the Stage and too many others to list. (He’s also a fitness nut and a motorcy ..read more

Prior to conducting this Saturday’s all-Beethoven program at the Michigan Theater, Music Director Earl Lee shared four of his favorite Beethoven Symphony No. 5 recordings, all available for listening on YouTube or via your preferred streaming provider. Herbert von Karajan/Berliner Philharmoniker (Deutsche Grammophon – DG, 1963): https://youtu.be/5Ie88sLSGgo?si=IeACcnFYyImVVC1I Manfred Honeck/Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Reference Recordings, 2015): https://youtu.be/icKeTON0a60?si=fW9qnXp6Cs9DzYUK Yannick Nezet-Seguin/Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Deutsche Grammophon – DG, 2022): http ..read more

On Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8 PM, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) will conclude its 2023-24 Pops Season at the Michigan Theater, showcasing a program inspired by the Broadway stage and Hollywood set. Acclaimed Broadway vocalists Chelsea Packard (Wicked; Promises, Promises) and Matt Bogart (Paradise Square; Jersey Boys) will take the stage to perform, and the orchestra will be joined by members of the University of Michigan’s Musical Theatre department for several numbers. Guest conductor and Toronto native Lucas Waldin will join the orchestra to conduct the concert. An innovative c ..read more

“What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.” The opening measures of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 are unlike anything contemporary audiences would have previously experienced. Ever the innovator, Beethoven was widely recognized as one of the leading pianists of his generation, and used his technical acumen and knowledge of emerging trends in piano design to construct a concerto of brilliance. Here are four features of the work that broke new ground at its premiere: Unusual Opening: Unlike many concertos of the Classical era, Beethoven’s fourth foray into the ..read more

Thursday, January 18, 2024 (Ann Arbor, MI) — The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed significant media coverage ahead of its appearance at Detroit’s Orchestra Hall, a historic first in the A2SO’s 95-year history. Music Director Earl Lee will conduct Mozart’s masterful Symphony No. 41, dubbed the “Jupiter Symphony”, and Sphinx Medal of Excellence awardee Tommy Mesa will solo in Haydn’s dynamic and jubilant Cello Concerto No. 1. Jessie Montgomery’s Divided rounds out the program, a moving testament to recent social and political unrest. The concert takes place on Friday, January 26 at Detr ..read more

Thursday, January 4, 2024 (Ann Arbor, MI) — On Friday, January 26, 2024, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) will perform in Detroit for the first time in their 95-year history. The concert will take place at 8 PM amid the Sphinx Organization’s 2024 SphinxConnect conference in Detroit, and will celebrate the two organizations’ shared history as well as feature Sphinx artists. Critical support for this venture will be supplied by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. The winner of the 2022 Solti Conducting Award and first recipient of Asi ..read more

Thursday, September 28, 2023 (Ann Arbor, MI) — MacArthur Fellow, Sphinx Organization founder, and pioneering poetjournalist Aaron P. Dworkin unveiled a new poem at the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Night performance on September 23, 2023. Inspired by themes from the orchestra’s 2023-24 season, Dworkin took the Hill Auditorium stage to deliver the work in front of a hushed audience, moments before Music Director Earl Lee led the orchestra in music by Joan Tower, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Antonin Dvorak. Since founding the Sphinx Organization in 1996, Dworkin and his wife Afa Sadykh ..read more

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Wednesday, July 26, 2023 (Ann Arbor, MI) — The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) is pleased to welcome new members and leadership to its Board of Directors, all of whom were elected at the orchestra’s annual meeting on June 8, 2023. With a rich background of involvement at the A2SO, Lesa Doll Huget was elected as Board President, with marketer Jon Beebe joining as First Vice President. New board members include bass-baritone and University of Michigan Vocal Professor Daniel Washington, and accountant Dan Merrit. “With a richness of experience in governance with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orches ..read more