In Friday’s (5/8) Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mark Gresham writes that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 season “season celebrates the centennial of the birth of Robert Shaw, legendary choral conductor and music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1967 until 1988…. Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, led by music director Robert Spano, will be performed on Shaw’s birthday, April 30, at Carnegie Hall.… Spano and the orchestra will open the new season at Symphony Hall in mid-September with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”).” Also planned are Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and a “Robert Shaw Choral Celebration” in March. “The early 6:30pm Friday concerts [will change] from ‘First Fridays’ to ‘Casual Fridays,’ which affords the orchestra greater flexibility…. Among contemporary works, there will be four world premieres: two new works from composer Jonathan Leshnoff, one by Mark Grey, and one new work by a favorite among locally-based composers, Michael Kurth, who is also a member of the orchestra’s contrabass section.… The ASO is widening its reach to the classical audience through an expansion of residencies with three institutions of higher learning: University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, and Reinhardt University … a direct response to changing arts markets in the 21st century.”
Posted May 11, 2015
