DON’T MISS THESE EXCITING PRE-SUMMER SEASON

VIOLENT FEMMES WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY | WED,

Christopher Dragon, conductor; San Diego Symphony Orchestra

MAY 10

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, Violent Femmes will be playing the album in its entirety with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. The album would later prove to embody some of the most powerful anthems of a disenchanted youth that the world has ever known. Today, it stands as a pillar of an American underground movement, and one of the best early examples of alternative rock.

Star

WARS:

A New

HOPE

In

CONCERT | SAT, MAY 13 & SUN, MAY 14

Conner Gray Covington, conductor; San Diego Symphony Orchestra

“The Force is strong with this one...”

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra wil present Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert, featuring screenings of the complete film with Oscar®-winning composer John Williams’ musical score performed live to the film. The concert will be led by acclaimed conductor Conner Gray Covington.

Barnatan

PLAYS

Brahms

| SAT, MAY 20 & SUN, MAY 21

Rafael Payare, conductor; Inon Barnatan, piano; San Diego Symphony Orchestra

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, in B-flat Major, Op. 83

Gity Razaz: Methuselah (In Chains of Time)* (WORLD PREMIERE)

Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

A San Diego favorite hailed by The New York Times as “one of the most admired pianists of his generation,” Inon Barnatan brings us Brahms’ brilliant blockbuster, the Piano Concerto No. 2. Music Director Rafael Payare and the Orchestra deliver an exciting world premiere by the much-in-demand Iranian-American composer Gity Razaz. The evening closes with Dvořák’s tender and intensely expressive Symphony No. 7, with its warm melodies inspired by the Bohemian spirit.

*Commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

SINGING WITH THE DEVIL: PAYARE AND CANTATA CRIOLLA

| FRI, MAY 26 & SAT, MAY 27

Rafael Payare, conductor; Aquiles Machado, tenor; Gustavo Castillo, baritone; San Diego Master Chorale

Fauré: Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande, Op. 80

Dukas: La Péri, Poème Dansé (Dance Poem in One Scene)

Castellanos: Santa Cruz de Pacairigua

Estévez: Cantata criolla, “Florentino, el que cantó con el Diablo” (Florentino, the One who Sang with the Devil), poem by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba

Music Director Rafael Payare leads the Orchestra in works by two of Venezuela’s most notable composers. Antonio Estévez’s best-known music is the 1954 Cantata Criolla, a lively work based on the Venezuelan mythic poem by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba about a singing contest between Florentino and the Devil. And Evencio Castellanos’ Santa Cruz de Pacairigua is filled with the influences of the country’s folk melodies, popular dance rhythms and even medieval carols.