NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center announced its 2022/2023 season lineup on Friday. It will feature nearly 100 performances and several world premieres, commissions and recording projects.
Several of the country's leading performers will be receiving the venue's spotlight in the new season, with an emphasis on diversity. It begins on Sept. 10, with Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony No. 2.
"This season, we present composers who may have once been neglected because of background, race or gender," said Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero.
Running from Sept. 15-17, the Symphony's first full classical program of the year will be the Amazon Classical series. The intent of the series is celebration of women's contributions to classical music over the last century.
"This is the perfect statement of what the Nashville Symphony is all about," Guerrero said.
It begins with a world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Wolfe's "Her Story," which the orchestra co-commissioned to commemorate the centennial of the 19th Amendment.
Classical series are not the only expectations patrons may have for the season. The programming also includes Pops, Jazz, Movie and Family Series concerts. Highlights of this category include screen actress Vanessa Williams, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Beach Boys and the Symphony's hugely popular Movie Series.
Fans of "Ghostbusters," "Ratatouille" and "Black Panther" can enjoy the orchestra's live performance of these scores, among many others.
The Nashville Symphony said its biggest project of the season will run April 13-16, 2023, when the orchestra premieres its commission of trumpeter and composer Hannibal Lokumbe's "The Jonah People."
The large-scale work explores the Black experience in America, and represents the the culmination of Lokumbe's career, inspired by his personal family history. It will feature singers, actors, drummers, a jazz quartet and grandiose stage sets.
The production will serve as the catalyst for a season-long series of community engagement activities involving partnerships with local organizations and institutions.
“As a community-supported organization, serving our community is at the very heart of the Nashville Symphony’s mission,” said Kimberly McLemore, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement. “Our programming for the 2022/23 season is intentionally designed to advance that mission by making sure that students at every level have access to music education and by collaborating with partners across our to community to provide meaningful arts access to everyone.”
The Symphony will launch initiatives to engage the community through a Community Residency program involving Nashville neighborhoods, classroom visits and more.
“Over the last two years we have so missed listening to truly great music and reveling in the grand, virtuosic sounds of our fabulous Nashville Symphony,” Guerrero said. “This season is a celebration of great music, both old and new, that reminds us how lucky we are to have a great orchestra, fantastic hall and an enthusiastic audience that is ready for it all.”
The full lineup can be found on the Nashville Symphony website. Individual or seasonal tickets can be purchased online as well.
