Part of Manchester Community Music School’s Faculty Concert Series featuring original compositions from NH composers.

The PSO’s Winter Concert brings Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “The Organ Symphony” to The Music Hall for the first time. This sweeping romantic symphony was Saint-Saëns’ last and is a culmination of the composer’s wide-ranging style. The concert program features two other strongly contrasting French works. Olivier Messiaen’s Les Offrandes Oubliees (The Forgotten Offerings) is a meditative work of religious ecstasy that reflects the composer’s devout faith and his fascination with depicting stained glass in music, in all of its colors and captivating stasis. The first half comes to a cataclysmic end with Maurice Ravel’s La Valse, a work that describes a whirling, swirling, decadent dance to the death capturing the impact of World War I on social norms and artistic expression.

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Rosy Weitham Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon
Jacques Ibert Cinq Pieces
Walter Piston Three Pieces for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon

Join Erin Dubois (flute), Stephanie Jenkins (clarinet), and Maria Isaak (bassoon) in a concert exploring three composers experiences during the World Wars.

Jewish composer Rosy Weitham was one of the first Dutch women composers who completed a professional music education and received international acclaim. Living all over Europe, she found herself living in Amsterdam when World War II broke out. She survived by going into hiding, giving small concerts to those she hid with. Her music continued to be performed outside of the Netherlands, including in America.

French composer Jacques Ibert studied music from an early age at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I. During WWI, he found himself enlisted in the Navy; that in itself was inspirational for the young composer, who based his popular Escales (Ports of Call) on places he’d visited while in active service – Rome, Palermo, Valencia, Tunis, Nafta. World War II also had an impact on Ibert’s career, his music having been banned by the pro-Nazi movement. The composer had to leave Paris and find exile away from occupied Paris. He spent time in Switzerland until War’s end, when he returned to musical life in the city.

Walter Piston, an American composer, made a living during the 1910’s playing piano and violin in dance bands and later playing violin in orchestras led by Georges Longy. He joined the U.S. Navy during World War I as a band musician after rapidly teaching himself to play saxophone; he later stated that, when "it became obvious that everybody had to go into the service, I wanted to go in as a musician". While playing in a service band, he taught himself to play most wind instruments. "They were just lying around," he later observed, "and no one minded if you picked them up and found out what they could do".

An annual family favorite, the Holiday Pops! program will delight audiences of all ages with a seasonal blend of music that will put your whole family in the holiday spirit!   Join us on Sunday, December 17 at York High School in York, ME and on Wednesday, December 20 at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, NH.     

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An annual family favorite, the Holiday Pops! program will delight audiences of all ages with a seasonal blend of music that will put your whole family in the holiday spirit!   Join us on Sunday, December 17 at York High School in York, ME and on Wednesday, December 20 at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, NH. 

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Join Aubrie Dionne, Erin Dubois, Kylie Elliot, and Rose Hinkle for a Celtic Holiday celebration featuring music for flute quartet.

Joyful Noise!

Saturday, December 9 @ 7:30 PM
Thayer’s Center for the Arts
745 Washington St., Braintree, MA 02184

An ASO annual tradition!

And we have some new twists this year…. including a very special visitor dropping in from the North to join us for the sing-a-long… (sshhhhhhh)

Join us for a celebration of the holiday season, with a fun Sing-A-Long and a Sleigh Ride…

Come early to warm up with some cider or coffee, try our yummy concessions, check out some silent auction items, and try our specially curated wine selection from Bin Ends Wine.

ANDERSON  A Christmas Festival | Sleigh Ride
ADAM  O Holy Night
BERLIN  White Christmas
CUSTER Chanukah Festival Overture
FAURÉ  Pavane
BIZET  L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1
TCHAIKOVSKY  Sleeping Beauty Suite
A Holiday Sing-A-Long

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The PSO’s opening concert will bring Portsmouth’s 400th anniversary celebrations to a pinnacle with the world premiere of At This Point. This commemorative commissioned piece delves into the full range of Portsmouth’s history by exploring the streets and stories of our time, while also reaching back to what Portsmouth may have looked and felt like before it was Portsmouth, before it was the homelands of the Abenaki people, or before man walked on this earth. Composed by Gregory Brown with words by Todd Hearon, this extensive work will feature Portsmouth Pro Musica, a soprano soloist, and a narrator. The program will also feature the Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman by Joan Tower, a work that is dedicated to one of the most inspiring conductors of our age, Marin Alsop, who helped push boundaries for women in music. Also featured is William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony, a true piece of musical Americana deserving of a place among the great American symphonies.

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BORODIN  In the Steppes of Central Asia
BEETHOVEN  Coriolan overture
LISZT  Piano Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN  Symphony No . 5

ASO’s 26th season opens with a dynamic evening of masterworks!

The evening includes Borodin’s rousing In the Steppes of Central Asia, Beethoven’s powerful Coriolan Overture, Liszt’s beautiful Piano Concerto No. 1 — performed by ASO soloist Xiaopei Xu — and Beethoven’s beloved Symphony No. 5.

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Join flutists Aubrie Dionne, Erin Dubois, Rose Hinkle, and Kylie Elliott in a concert featuring Celtic Music for Flute Quartet. More info coming soon!

Sunday, September 10, 2023

Plymouth State University

Plymouth, NH

The PSO’s final mainstage performance of the season features two powerfully evocative works: Vivian Fung’s Dust Devils and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Dust Devils captures the journey of emotional swirls in the mind—both calm and full of raw intense energy. Enigma Variations tours us through the personal landscape of Elgar’s life with a selection of musical characterizations of the people who were closest to him. The concert will also include a performance by the 2023 Young Artist Competition winner. 

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH

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Join PMAC Faculty in a Classical concert during Inspiration week at PMAC.

The PMAC Quintet will be performing movements from J.S. Bach’s B Minor Suite and Amy Beach’s Theme and Variations for Flute and Strings.

Erin Dubois, flute

Lynn McMahon, violin

Taylor Blankenship, violin

Sally Wituszynski, viola

Maria Isaak, bassoon

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, Portsmouth, NH

Join us for an evening of Celtic music in the historic 1914 Reading Room. Professional musicians from the Manchester Community Music School will transport you to the Emerald Isle with classics like Skye Boat Song, Londonderry Air, A Gaelic Offering and many more.

Musicians:

Aubrie Dionne, flute
Erin Dubois, flute and piccolo
Rose Hinkle, flute and alto flute
Kylie Elliott, flute

This Concert is Free and Open to the Public.

Thursday May 25, 2023 7 PM

Baker Free Public Library

Bow, NH

More Information Here

Join Aubrie Dionne, Erin Dubois, Rose Hinkle, and Kylie Elliott in a concert featuring Celtic Music for Flute Quartet. More info coming soon!

Thursday March 16, 2023

Gruber Recital Hall, Manchester Community Music School

2291 Elm Street, Manchester NH 03104

The PSO’s Winter Concert features Beethoven’s beautiful and masterful Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor Concerto,” Jean Sibelius’ powerful Symphony No. 2 and William Grant Still’s emergent Poem for Orchestra. Still’s work was inspired by a world being spiritually reborn after a period of darkness and isolation. This theme is echoed in Sibelius’ work, which was written as Finland was struggling against Russian oppression of its language and culture. Similarly triumphant is the spirit of the “Emperor Concerto,” which will be performed by guest pianist Ko-Eun Yi. Perhaps the best known of Beethoven’s five piano concertos, the “Emperor Concerto” is notable for its grandeur, bold melodies, and heroic spirit.

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH

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WINTER SERENITIES

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - Vaughn-Williams

Summa - Part

Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra - Goossens, Alicia Rockenhauser, soloist

Symphony #1 - Mahler

Our winter concert begins with Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" for double string orchestra and string quartet. The richness and power of this music will overwhelm your spirit and take you to a place of serenity and contemplation, certainly something to embrace in the cold of a New Hampshire winter. Our strings will keep you in that place with Arvo Part's beautiful "Summa". We'll then bring our wonderful principal oboe, Alicia Rockenhauser to the stage for a performance of Eugene Goossen's Oboe Concerto. Our concert will conclude with Gustav Mahler's First Symphony. Although not strictly programmatic, the symphony still offers glimpses of summer days in the mountains, the sounds of birds, a picnic in the meadows, and a majestic sunset in the Austrian mountains. Mahler's music is distinctive and continues to thrill audiences around the world.

FEBRUARY 18 AND 19, 2023

SEIFERT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

44 Geremonty Dr.
Salem, NH 03079

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WINTER SERENITIES

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - Vaughn-Williams

Summa - Part

Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra - Goossens, Alicia Rockenhauser, soloist

Symphony #1 - Mahler

Our winter concert begins with Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" for double string orchestra and string quartet. The richness and power of this music will overwhelm your spirit and take you to a place of serenity and contemplation, certainly something to embrace in the cold of a New Hampshire winter. Our strings will keep you in that place with Arvo Part's beautiful "Summa". We'll then bring our wonderful principal oboe, Alicia Rockenhauser to the stage for a performance of Eugene Goossen's Oboe Concerto. Our concert will conclude with Gustav Mahler's First Symphony. Although not strictly programmatic, the symphony still offers glimpses of summer days in the mountains, the sounds of birds, a picnic in the meadows, and a majestic sunset in the Austrian mountains. Mahler's music is distinctive and continues to thrill audiences around the world.

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Guest conductor Dr. Dirk Hillyer and the PSO are pairing up again to ring in another new year and to kick off Portsmouth’s 400th anniversary! They’ll be joined by special guest tenor Ben DiScipio, winner of Boston’s highest musical theater award, who brings a variety of talent in Broadway, operetta and jazz to this year’s Champagne Pops! Audiences will enjoy favorites from Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter along with highlights from Les Miserables, Gypsy, and Carmen and can expect Duke Ellington to “pop” in as well!

Guest conductor Dr. Dirk Hillyer is an award-winning conductor and musician who has performed for over two decades on both the regional and national stage. His experiences range from the classical genre to “pops” music of Broadway and film, including two national tours for Disney’s “Disney-in-Concert.” His Hillyer Festival Orchestra (HFO) has given 150 performances over the past 23 years on the North Shore and in Boston, including playing Boston’s Hatch Shell on the Esplanade for five consecutive years.

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH

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Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5

George Walker’s Lyric for Strings

Replete with emotion, color, energy and intimacy, the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra opens its 25th season with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 with George Walker’s Lyric for Strings. Mahler’s giant work traces the emotional pathway from funeral march to radiant optimism while Walker’s brief but deeply intimate work is dedicated to his grandmother, a former enslaved person who died while Walker was composing the piece. Seemingly opposites in size and origins, these two profound works mirror one another in their capacity to convey the complexity and intensity of the human experience.

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH

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Egmont Overture - Beethoven

Lyric for Strings - Walker

Peer Gynt Suite #1 - Grieg

Symphony #1 - Sibelius

“Our opening concert is an orchestral showcase. We open with Beethoven's heroic Egmont Overture. In the music for Egmont, Beethoven expressed his own political concerns through the exaltation of the heroic sacrifice of a man condemned to death for having taken a valiant stand against oppression. The Overture became an unofficial anthem of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. We transition from the power of Beethoven to the serenity of George Walker's "Lyric for Strings". Reminiscent of Barber's Adagio for Strings, this short piece features our opulent string section. We conclude the first half of the concert with the very popular "Peer Gynt Suite #1" of Edvard Grieg. From the opening "Morning Moods" to the raucous "In the Hall of the Mountain King", the music carries us through events of  Norwegian mythology. We stay in Scandinavia for the conclusion of our concert, Symphony #1 by Jan Sibelius. Sibelius' love of country, it's lakes and forests, are all conveyed in his music, even with this early symphony. Sounds of nature and grand landscapes are vividly portrayed through his unique orchestral voice.”

Seifert Performing Arts Center

44 Geremonty Drive, Salem, NH

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Egmont Overture - Beethoven

Lyric for Strings - Walker

Peer Gynt Suite #1 - Grieg

Symphony #1 - Sibelius

“Our opening concert is an orchestral showcase. We open with Beethoven's heroic Egmont Overture. In the music for Egmont, Beethoven expressed his own political concerns through the exaltation of the heroic sacrifice of a man condemned to death for having taken a valiant stand against oppression. The Overture became an unofficial anthem of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. We transition from the power of Beethoven to the serenity of George Walker's "Lyric for Strings". Reminiscent of Barber's Adagio for Strings, this short piece features our opulent string section. We conclude the first half of the concert with the very popular "Peer Gynt Suite #1" of Edvard Grieg. From the opening "Morning Moods" to the raucous "In the Hall of the Mountain King", the music carries us through events of  Norwegian mythology. We stay in Scandinavia for the conclusion of our concert, Symphony #1 by Jan Sibelius. Sibelius' love of country, it's lakes and forests, are all conveyed in his music, even with this early symphony. Sounds of nature and grand landscapes are vividly portrayed through his unique orchestral voice.”

Seifert Performing Arts Center

44 Geremonty Drive, Salem NH

Buy Tickets Here

Bach’s Lunch Lecture and Recital Series

Concord Community Music School, Concord, NH

Toward the Sea by Toru Takemitsu for Alto Flute and Guitar

Histoire Du Tango by Astor Piazzolla for Flute and Guitar

Selections from John Downland’s Lute Songs arranged for Flute and Guitar.

Each piece evokes images and references the history

of different cultures and time periods. Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea, commissioned by

Greenpeace for the Save the Whales Campaign, contains references to Melville’s Moby Dick

through the titles “The Night”, “Moby Dick”, and “Cape Cod” and focuses on emphasizing the

spirituality of the book, quoting the passage “meditation and water are wedded together”. In

Histoire Du Tango, Piazzolla aims to explore the history of the Tango in four movements:

Bordello 1900, Café 1930, Nightclub 1960, and Concert Aujourd’hui. Each movement paints a

picture of the changes that the Tango went through during each age. Finally, in John

Downland’s Lute Songs, the image of melancholy that was fashionable in music of the time is

always present.

Join us for a colorful and vibrant Spring Concert. Audiences will be thrilled by Asian Canadian composer Vivian Fung’s outstanding and virtuosic work Dust Devils. The 2020 and 2022 Young Artist Competition winners’ performances celebrate our young talent with optimism and hope for the future. Concluding the performance and rounding out the PSO’s 24th mainstage season is Dvorak’s brilliant and luminous New World Symphony.

Sunday June 5th at 3:00 PM at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH.

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