A gala celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Nashville Symphony’s Schermerhorn Center will feature Ben Folds performing his 21-minute concerto for piano and orchestra.
The September 10 opening night to begin the Symphony’s 2016-17 season features Folds’ three-movement work, co-commissioned by the Symphony, which Nashville Scene’s John Pitcher describes as
a proudly and overtly derivative piece, sounding like the music of Prokofiev one minute, and Gershwin the next. But Folds’ own idiosyncratic style, which he describes as “piano for left-handed drummer,†always comes through, providing this glistening work with a welcome degree of thrust.
The gala performance with the full orchestra conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero reprises the concerto’s world premiere at the Schermerhorn. The 15-concert classical season includes programs featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Mahler, a premiere of Prokifiev’s Rite of Spring and Holst’s The Planets accompanied by NASA space footage. A morning Coffee and Classics series, a Pops series, a Jazz series and several special events are also planned. Full details at the Nashville Symphony website.
Season subscriptions are now on sale; individual tickets, if any remain, will be available in July.
