Thousands are expected to gather in Forest Park this week to celebrate the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s 143rd season.
The Wednesday, Sept. 14, concert marks an annual tradition for many St. Louisans, with more than 15,000 converging on Art Hill annually to enjoy classical, film and patriotic music, and view fireworks over the Grand Basin.
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) music director Stéphane Denève leads the orchestra in works by Edvard Grieg, Scott Joplin, Astor Piazzolla, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and music by John Williams, including “The Mission” theme and “Star Wars.” In addition, soprano Raquel González, a former Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, makes her SLSO debut singing a Giacomo Puccini aria from “Tosca.”
A show-stopping fireworks display will conclude the evening following John Philip Sousa’s patriotic anthem, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
Attendees are encouraged to come early, bring chairs and blankets, and enjoy food trucks on site. Local vendors at the concert will include Angie’s Burgers, Balkan Treat Box, Blues Fired Pizza, Cha Cha Chow, Fire and Ice Cream Truck, Go Gyro Go, Grace Meat + Three, Holy Crepe, Mission Taco, Picture Perfect Panini, The Popcorn Bar, STL Barkeep, Urban Chestnut and Waynos International. Food and drink vendors will be available starting at 5:00pm. The concert begins at 7 p.m.
The first SLSL Forest Park community concert was held in 1968 and serves as the kickoff to the new SLSO season, which officially begins this weekend at Powell Hall, when Denève leads the orchestra in its first classical concerts of the season.
The season opens Sept. 17 and 18 with the SLSO debut of Nathalie Joachim’s “Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti),” performed with the composer as the vocal soloist. The opening weekend concerts also feature Jacques Ibert’s “Escales (Ports of Call),” music reflecting the culture of Mediterranean Sea regions, including Italy, Tunisia and Spain, and concluding with a trip to Bohemia through Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8.
The first month of concerts also includes Gustav Mahler’s monumental “Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)” with mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor and tenor Clay Hilley in his SLSO debut, and the first SLSO performances of Tōru Takemitsu’s “Night Signal” and Qigang Chen’s “L’Eloignement” (Sept. 30 and Oct. 1).
Also coming up, the final installment of the “Harry Potter” film series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 2” in concert, as well as a musical tribute to Stephen Sondheim in collaboration with The Muny.
For a complete schedule, along with ticket information for the St. Louis Symphony’s 2022-2023 season, visit slso.org or call the box office at (314) 534-1700.
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