The Nashville Symphony has released details surrounding its second Artist Spotlight Series, showcasing a range of guest artists performing concerts and solo recitals in Laura Turner Hall at Schermerhorn Symphony Center throughout 2024. The four-concert series will feature pianist/composer Stewart Goodyear, pairing works of his own creation with those of Beethoven; GRAMMY® Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs performing an all-Bach program; Sphinx Virtuosi, the flagship performing entity of the Sphinx Organization performing works by Jessie Montgomery, Javier Farias, and others; and a recital with Peter Otto, the Orchestra’s new Walter Buchanan Sharp Concertmaster.
Tickets for each concert start at $25, with presale happening now for all Nashville Symphony subscribers. More information about the series can be found at nashvillesymphony.org/spotlight.
Stewart Goodyear Plays Beethoven and Goodyear
Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 17 in D minor “Tempest”
Stewart Goodyear: Rhapsody
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor “Moonlight”
Stewart Goodyear: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Ludwig van Beethoven: Andante Favori
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
Pianist Stewart Goodyear, a virtuoso performer and prolific composer, juxtaposes original works of his own creation with some of the most well-known and beloved works of Beethoven, a composer who he has described as his spiritual father since he was three years old, and “who possesses me more than any other composer when I perform in concert.” Goodyear’s Rhapsody, an elegy for a loved one, is between Beethoven’s “Tempest” and “Moonlight” sonatas, two sonatas that depict the very human feelings of sorrow and unrest. His Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, a virtuosic showpiece, is programmed alongside Beethoven’s Andante Favori and the “Appassionata” sonata, a work that is both a thrilling masterpiece as well as brilliant depiction of defiance.
More information can be found at nashvillesymphony.org/stewartgoodyear.
Paul Jacobs: The Great Organ Works of Bach and Liszt
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Johann Sebastian Bach:
Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV
Trio Sonata in E Minor, BWV 528
I. Adagio-Vivace
II. Andante
III. Un Poco Allegro
Arioso from Cantata, BWV 156
Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543
Franz Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue on ‘Ad Nos, Ad Salutarem Undam’
Hailed by The New York Times as “a virtuoso of dazzling technical acumen,” GRAMMY® Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs returns to the Schermerhorn to put the mighty Martin Foundation Concert Organ through its paces. As a frequent and favorite guest soloist with the Nashville Symphony, Jacobs returns for a powerhouse program of J.S. Bach and Liszt.
More information can be found at nashvillesymphony.org/pauljacobs.
Sphinx Virtuosi
Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Quenton Blache: Habari Gani*
Javier Farias: Abran Paso*
Adolphus Hailstork: from Sonata da Chiesa
Dona Nobis Pacem
Exultate
Andrea Casarrubios: Herencia*
Jessie Montgomery: Divided with Tommy Mesa
Coleridge Taylor Perkinson: Sinfonietta No. 2, “Generations”
The Sphinx Virtuosi is a dynamic and inspiring professional self-conducted chamber orchestra that serves as the flagship performing entity of the Sphinx Organization – the leading social justice non-profit dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. Comprising 18 accomplished Black and Latinx artists, the Sphinx Virtuosi are evolving and transforming the face of classical music through artistic excellence, pioneering programming, and impassioned community engagement.
Inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes and Julia Alvarez, Sphinx’s Schermerhorn program showcases the beauty and tradition of excellence inherent in classical music created and performed by Black and Latinx composers for many generations. Sphinx seeks to uplift spirits through sharing the sounds that inspire us and transcend the boundaries of time, history, and struggle.
More information can be found at nashvillesymphony.org/sphinxvirtuosi.
Peter Otto in Recital
Monday, June 24, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Peter Otto, the Nashville Symphony’s new Walter Buchanan Sharp Concertmaster performs works for violin by Johannes Brahms, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ottorino Respighi, and Clara Schumann. Otto is a graduate of The Juilliard School and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Rostock, Germany. His honors include top prizes in the Max Rostal Competition in Berlin and the Kingsville Young Performers Competition in Texas. His teachers have included Christiane Hutcap, Vera Kramarova, and Lewis Kaplan, with other significant musical influences being Roman Nodel, Igor Ozim, and Felix Galimir.
More information can be found at nashvillesymphony.org/peterotto.
About The Nashville Symphony: The Nashville Symphony has been the primary ambassador for classical music in Music City since 1946. Led by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, the ensemble is internationally acclaimed for its focus on contemporary American orchestral music through collaborations with composers including Jennifer Higdon, Terry Riley, Joan Tower and Aaron Jay Kernis; commissioning and recording projects with Nashville-based artists including Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Ben Folds and Victor Wooten; and for its 14 GRAMMY® Awards. In addition to the classical season, the orchestra performs concerts in a wide range of genres, from pops to live-to-film movie scores, family-focused presentations, holiday events, jazz and cabaret evenings, and is the official orchestra for the Nashville Ballet.
An established leader in the Nashville and regional arts and cultural communities, the Symphony spearheads groundbreaking community partnerships and initiatives, notably, Violins of Hope Nashville, which engaged tens of thousands of Middle Tennesseans through concerts, exhibits, lectures by spotlighting a historic collection of instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Similarly, this spring, the Nashville Symphony presented the world premiere of an epic opera commissioned from Hannibal Lokumbe, The Jonah Project: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph. Retracing his family’s ancestry and journey from slavery to the present day, Hannibal’s story celebrates the spirit of those who endured and thrived to become Black visionaries and world changers. More at nashvillesymphony.org.
