The Oak Ridge Symphony begins a new era under the leadership of newly appointed Music Director, Régulo Stabilito. The 2023-2024 season kicks off with a well thought-out program titled "A Musical Exploration of Cultures", which features music by Venezuelan composer, Gonzalo Castellanos-Yumar, African American composer, Carlos Simon, Native American composer, Louis Ballard, Polish composer and survivor of the Holocaust, Szymon Laks, and Aaron Copland's beloved Appalachian Spring. This program was inspired by the 2023 "Roots of America" lecture series that was hosted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning.
For this season, the symphony will be branching out into the community, offering additional performances in Farragut, West Knoxville, and Maryville. Additionally, the symphony will be tracing its evolution as an organization, which was founded in 1944 by Waldo Cohn. The symphony actually began prior to 1944 as a group of friends making chamber music together. Soon, it evolved into a sinfonietta (a smaller sized symphony), then to a chamber orchestra, and finally, in 1944, became a full symphony orchestra.
This concert will be performed by the first configuration, the sinfonietta. Audience members have two opportunities to see the performance. The first will be at St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in Farragut on Saturday, September 9th at 7:30pm and in Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge on Sunday, September 10th at 3pm. A special post-concert dinner will be offered at 5pm following the Oak Ridge performance. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Tickets and additional information are available at https://orcma.org/
