Concerts
PACO is pleased to announce that all regular 2011-2012 concerts, for all orchestras, are free and open to the public.
Saturday, October 29, 2011 – 8 pm
Cubberley Theatre @ Cubberley Community Center
4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Simon, conductor
Forrest Byram, tuba
Take Tuba
From the deep end of the brass section, we bring you the marvelous sounds of the tuba in an unconventional arrangement of Mozart’s delightful Horn Concerto #1. If anyone can pull this off, it’s tubist extraordinaire Forrest Byram. Also featured on this program is Dvorak’s famous Serenade for Strings, a musical valentine to his beloved Bohemia, plus the first of Handel’s wonderful Opus 6 concerti grossi.
Saturday, December 17, 2011 – 8 pm
Dinkelspiel Auditorium @ Stanford University
471 Lagunita Drive, Stanford
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Simon, conductor
Dina Glendening-Keller, piano
From Vienna, with Love
This concert features two famous Viennese composers whose lives and works bridged the Classical and Romantic eras. The powerful opening chords of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture make a fitting introduction to his titanic Piano Concerto #5 (“Emperor”), performed by PACO alumna Dina Glendening-Keller. We close our program with Felix Mendelssohn’s brilliant Italian Symphony, whose warmth and charm balances the stern beauty of our Beethoven works.
Saturday, March 10, 2012 – 8 pm
Cubberley Theatre @ Cubberley Community Center
4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Simon, conductor
Karla Ekholm, bassoon
Red, White, and Bassoon
We’re hoisting tri-colored flags in this diverse program of music from England, France, and the United States. Purcell’s beautiful English Suite begins our tour, then we’re on to France where our featured soloist, bassoon virtuosa Karla Ekholm, will amaze you in Jean Francaix’ delightful Divertimento for Bassoon and Strings. We end at home, where we’ll perform the First Suite for Strings by northern California’s own modern genius, Lou Harrison, whose unique and fascinating compositions blend influences both East and West.
Saturday, June 2, 2012 – 8 pm
Cubberley Theatre @ Cubberley Community Center
4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Simon, conductor
Ariana Kim, violin
Bach to the Future
From the glorious, golden Baroque to our edgy modern existence, our program illustrates the beauties of classical music’s past and our future-in-the-making. Ascending superstar Ariana Kim makes her PACO debut in J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major, and we present the world premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s Window Watchers. In between, we celebrate Giacchino Rossini’s leap-year birthday with his lovely String Sonata No. 2, and celebrate our amazing viola section with the luscious Nachtstück by the romantic Max von Weinzierl.
