What better way to open the 2024–2025 Season than with a world premiere by Robert Xavier Rodríguez who Texas Monthly has called “one of the major American composers of his generation.” Joining Maestro Guzmán and the PSO for this very special concert is the Pittsburg Ballet Theatre, one of the most exciting ballet companies in the country, performing a beautiful pas de deux from Swan Lake as well as Ravel’s sensuous Boléro, with choreography by Susan Jaffe. Also appearing will be PSO Concertmaster Elisabeth Adkins performing Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by S. Barber. 

Robert Xavier Rodríguez has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer, with 46 of his works released on CDs. Rodríguez’s new PSO commission Tlaloc is a celebration of the ancient Aztec god of rain, thunder, and fertility, and it features multiple percussion instruments and dramatic echoes of pre-Hispanic Mexico. His music has been described as “romantically dramatic” (The Washington Post), “richly lyrical” (Musical America), and “glowing with a physical animation and delicate balance of moods that combine seductively with his all-encompassing sense of humor.” (Los Angeles Times).

Prepare to be spellbound as the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre takes the stage for Boléro. “It’s a single melody that repeats as a solo in numerous instruments, slowly growing in volume and passion, developmentally linear. It’s not a story so much as a straight line. [At a performance in 2023], the dancers matched this energy, whirling sinuously in a beautifully controlled expression of joy. As the music increased in power, the dancers’ movements grew wilder and more complex, blooming imaginatively until a final, pounding cadence brought the evening to a spirited close.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).