Modesto Symphony weaves rock, classics and Disney into season

The classics, a pop of rock and a little Disney whimsy will mark 81/2 decades for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra in its upcoming season.

The 2015-16 slate of programs will celebrate the symphony’s 85th year. It comes on the heels of a third consecutive season in the financial black after past years of budget challenges for the company.

The 85th anniversary “is an incredible milestone for an orchestra of our size and a community of our size,” MSO President and CEO Caroline Nickel said in an email interview. “It is a wonderful gift to be able to experience this caliber of live orchestral music here in our community.”

The season, as has become tradition, kicks off in September with the always-packed Picnic at the Pops concert on the grounds of the E.&J. Gallo Winery administration building. This year’s show features the return of MSO’s former music director Michael Krajewski, who will conduct one of his own programs featuring classic rock hits from the Beatles, Doobie Brothers, Crosby Stills & Nash, Sting, Queen, Coldplay and more.

Krajewski initiated the now 21-year-old Picnic at the Pops program during his 1990-2000 tenure with MSO. Since leaving Modesto, Krajewski “has been principal pops conductor for the Atlanta Symphony, Houston Pops and Philly Pops, to a name a few – as well as numerous other guest conducting appearances,” Nickel said.

“We will be performing one of (Krajewski’s) own programs that features classic rock iconic songs that will be a great fit for what our Picnic at the Pops patrons enjoy,” she said. “It seems very fitting to bring Michael Krajewski back to Modesto for a concert that he initiated and that has turned into a community favorite.”

That show will open a varied season, planned by Music Director David Lockington. “When (Lockington) looks at each individual concert, he likes to make sure we have at least one piece that is very recognizable and the audience will be familiar with,” Nickel said. “He also likes to make sure we are providing our audience with some diversity and exposing them to the orchestral standards and also grow their own repertoire knowledge.”

Five concerts will make up the season’s Classics Series, opening with a program of popular works including George Gershwin’s Concerto for Piano in F Major and guest pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, a 2014 Gilmore Young Artist award winner. The Gershwin piece incorporates jazz, blues – and even the Charleston – into a classical three-movement concerto premièred by the composer and pianist in 1925 at Carnegie Hall, according to Nickel.

That program – conducted by Lockington – also opens with a piece from contemporary composer Andrew Norman, an alumnus of the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra and new director of the L.A. Philharmonic’s Composer Fellowship Program.

For the second classics program, Associate Conductor Ryan Murray will lead a side-by side concert with the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Also on the program will be Ludwig van Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, along with trumpeter, composer and arranger Brandon Ridenour performing his “Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Paganini.”

Other classics concerts will feature guest violinist Angelo Xiang Yu performing Camille Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3, a Johann Sebastian Bach double violin concerto and a joint production of MSO guest soloists with more than 100 orchestra musicians, the MSO Chorus and the CSU, Stanislaus, Concert Chorale and Chamber Singers, prepared by MSO Chorus Director Daniel Afonso Jr.

“The Modesto Symphony Orchestra at 85 has a rich history, and I am so proud to be a part of it,” Lockington said in a news release. “This season celebrates that history and the numerous connections we have with our community. We look forward to a season of making and experiencing joyful music together.”

The annual Holiday Pops! again will lead the three-concert pops series with Broadway vocalist Nicole Parker, the orchestra, the MSO Chorus, Expressions Youth Choir and – of course – Santa Claus. A songs from “The Great American Songbook” program will feature Broadway guest vocalists Anne Runolfsson and Doug LaBrecque. Special to the series next summer will be a “Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Time” show.

“‘Disney in Concert’ will feature scenes from your favorite Disney animated movies projected onto a big screen while the orchestra performs on stage together with vocalists,” Nickel said. “It will include scenes and music from movies like ‘Frozen,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Aladdin’ and many more. We are anticipating that this will be a very popular program so we will have two performances.”

The symphony’s traditional Holiday Candlelight Concert will return in December, as well.

The new season also marks more educational experiences for the region’s youths, thanks to last year’s financially successful run.

“We are very pleased … to have finished this season in the black, and in fact, we have now had three seasons in a row finish with a balanced budget,” Nickel said. “But more than that, we are elated to have reintroduced an education concert this season after having reduced our education programs several years ago due to budget constraints. This is a very significant accomplishment and speaks to our commitment to music education and to our community.”

MSO again will partner with Carnegie Hall’s Weil Music Institute for a music education, composition and performance curriculum for students in grades three through five. The Link Up: The Orchestra Moves program culminates in March with students performing with the symphony in one of two concerts.

“This anniversary season celebrates our history and showcases much that is great about this orchestra,” Lockington said. “As we celebrate this milestone, we also continue to move forward, expanding our programs and further connecting to our audience and community with inspiring concerts.”

Among other season highlights of the season, according to Nickel, will be the symphony’s 120-member volunteer chorus performing at four concerts and a community violin competition with winners performing side by side with the MSO.

“I am quite excited for this next season, the programs and the guest artists – and I just have to point out that we are ending our Classics Season with Mahler Symphony No. 2,” Nickel said. “This is a monumental piece and enormous undertaking with over 100 orchestra musicians on stage together with a full chorus. It is a fitting tribute in our 85th season, when we have accomplished so much and are able to celebrate 85 years, to perform this piece. I think the audience will be truly inspired by it.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Modesto Symphony weaves rock, classics and Disney into season."