Oklahoma City—The Oklahoma City Philharmonic celebrates its 35th season with a magnificent new lineup of concerts and musical magic.
“We want to fill the hall, to be meaningful in Oklahoma,” said OKCPHIL Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate. “We want to be fun and create something in the city where we are all united. It sounds very simple, but it’s true. Doesn’t matter what race, color or ideology; we are all one, and we celebrate that through creativity. In our upcoming season, it’s all about the music. A joyful noise, if you will. And we want to celebrate that with our OKCPHIL family.”
The Opening Night Gala will be Saturday, Sept. 9, 8 p.m. at Civic Center Music Hall, combining the annual Maestro’s Ball with the season opener of the Inasmuch Foundation Classics series. Ukrainian violinist Anastasiya Petryshak performs as part of an all-Tchaikovsky program.
“Anastasiya is just one of two amazing Ukrainian soloists joining us this season,” Mickelthwate said. “Anastasiya made her debut as a soloist at the age of 15, and regularly performs with Andrea Bocelli. Pianist Dmytro Choni is a bronze medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He will appear in our October classics concert featuring music from Bach and Liszt, and the iconic ‘Symphony Fantastique’ of Hector Berlioz.”
Other Classics concerts feature Grammy Award winner Mark O’Conner, taking a deep dive into our Americana and folk roots, and Canterbury Voices will join us for “Glorious Life.”
“This season we will celebrate the music of Brahms, and then in another concert present the majestic tone poem ‘Pines of Rome’” Mickelthwate said. “Our climactic season finale will be our semi-staged version of the opera ‘Tosca.’ There is so much going on in our Classics Series, and we cannot wait to share with you this beautiful music.”
The Chickasaw Nation Pops Series debuts November 3 & 4, with Golden Globe-nominated composer Brian Byrne presenting a Hollywood-themed spectacular.
“Brian was with us last season, and this year he’s bringing us all the red-carpet glitz and glamour you would expect from La La Land. An OKCPHIL favorite, Mariachi Los Camperos, will perform next season, and we will have an all-new musical production called ‘Heroes and Villains’ in a breathtaking Cirque-style musical production.”
The Holidays will be truly spectacular, Mickelthwate said, with the all-new “An OKCPHIL Christmas with Sandi Patty & Take 6.”
“Sandi is one of our local hometown favorites, and she’s also a multiple Grammy Award winner,” he added. “And Take 6 is an a cappella Grammy-winning gospel group integrating jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. We have a local surprise element too we think will make this the hit of the Oklahoma City holiday season!”
Capping the Pops season will be an OKCPHIL appearance by the legendary Bernadette Peters.
“This will be so much fun,” Mickelthwate said. “Bernadette has done everything—Broadway, film and television. She has won Tony Awards and Golden Globes and is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the works of Stephen Sondheim. She starred in ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ and most recently in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ We are so fortunate to see her perform with our amazing musicians right on our own stage!
“Oklahoma City should be known as a breeding ground for fun, for creativity,” Mickelthwate added. “That’s my thing. And that’s what the OKCPHIL is all about.”
A complete list of concerts as well as other OKCPHIL-related projects can be found at okcphil.org
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