To celebrate its upcoming 2021/2022 season, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is returning to Forest Park for a free concert next month.
The annual community concert on Art Hill, which marks the beginning of SLSO’s 142nd season, takes place Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. The evening concludes with a fireworks display over the park’s Grand Basin.
Music director Stéphane Denève will lead the orchestra in a performance of works by Ludwig van Beethoven, W.C. Handy, Igor Stravinsky and John Williams, plus the first SLSO performance of Florence Price’s “Adoration.”
Denève, who recently signed a contract extension to lead the SLSO through the 2025/2026 season, will conduct a repertoire of classical favorites like selections from Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5” and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” alongside works by Leonard Bernstein, W.C. Handy, and music from movie scores by celebrated film composer John Williams, including “Harry Potter” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
In addition, the orchestra will perform Florence Price’s “Adoration” for the first time, as arranged by Akiko Hosoi. Price is the first Black woman widely recognized as a symphonic composer. The concert also includes a performance of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” a traditional African American spiritual that features vocalist Nadia Maddex. Maddex is a St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON scholar and soprano in the IN UNISON Chorus, the SLSO resident chorus that specializes in the performance and preservation of music from African and African American traditions.
The festivities end with a show-stopping fireworks display following John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
Attendees are encouraged to come early, bring chairs and blankets, and enjoy food trucks on site. The SLSO is following CDC guidelines for COVID safety protocols and is working with St. Louis City and Forest Park to determine what protocols will be necessary. For more information, visit the SLSO COVID-19 Safety Protocols page prior to the concert.
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