Expanded Family Series, Women Composers Series, Summer Music Camps, and more are planned to further engage audiences.
PLANO, TX (May 15, 2023): Plano Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Music Director Héctor Guzmán and Executive Director Gregory Patterson have announced several new program initiatives for the 2023/2024 Season designed to advance the PSO’s strategic plan to provide more opportunities for North Texans to experience high quality music. In addition to the eight mainstage concerts with the full Plano Symphony Orchestra, the PSO will expand the Family Series from nine to 13 performances, to include some at the Addison Theatre Center, launch a new series of concerts featuring women composers, and hold its first summer music camps in July.
“The PSO believes in the transformative power of music to change lives, and the Board of Directors made a unanimous commitment to expand our programming and music education programs to grow and nurture the audiences of today and tomorrow through exciting, inclusive, innovative, and impactful music. Many of these new offerings reflect that commitment to bringing music to more people and celebrating the musical voices of everyone in our community,” said Gregory Patterson.
PSO Family Series:
The PSO is excited to expand the popular Family Series from nine performances to 13 and looks forward to allowing families with children 3-12 opportunities to explore the wild world of the orchestra. This year’s theme, “Musical Adventures,” will take audiences on a musical journey – from grand dinosaurs to faraway planets. These 45-minute family friendly concerts will explore great music alongside either actors, dancers, multimedia presentations, or even a live animal or two. The all-new Christmas program will be in partnership with the Town of Addison and Rebel Theatrics.
Women Composers Series:
In yet another partnership with the Town of Addison, the Women Composers Series will feature the regional debut of contemporary female composers, highlight historic contributions to symphonic music by women, and build community support for new symphonic works. Curated by PSO Education Director Dr. Jennifer Wheeler and PSO Assistant Conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg, this celebration of music will inspire and enlighten even the most diehard music fans.
Led by Shira Samuels-Shragg, the two concerts in this series will be May 18, 2024, and June 8, 2024. These concerts will celebrate the brilliant compositional voices of American women from the past and present. Each composer represented on this program brings her own unique background, style, and musical language to the string orchestra idiom. In dialogue with one another, these works act as a microcosm for the beautiful richness of American culture.
Summer Music Camp:
Two new summer orchestra camps designed to help students fine tune their skills by learning from some of the very talented musicians of the PSO, including Concertmaster Elizabeth Adkins, are planned for July. The camps help foster the Symphony’s mission to inspire, educate, entertain, and involve the youth of the community. Open to Strings, Winds, Brass, and Percussion, the camps will be held July 10-21 (grades 9-12) and July 10-14 (grades 7-8) and take place in Plano at Christ United Methodist Church. Tuition is $200 for the High School camp and $100 for Middle School. Auditions are required and are now being accepted at planosymphony.org/summer-camp.
Additional classes include Chamber Music and Electives such as film music, improvisation, and conducting. Private lessons with PSO musicians are available for an additional charge. The camps will culminate in mini concerts by each grade group. An additional Plano Symphony Orchestra concert featuring conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg will be on July 15 at 7 PM. Cosmic Compositions: A Family Friendly Musical Exploration of Space will explore the celestial beauty of orchestral music! With everything from Star Wars to classical composers’ take on the heavenly bodies, this 75-minute romp through engaging and colorful music will explore your love of faraway galaxies! Camp students will receive two free tickets to the performance. Tickets for this performance will also be available for purchase by the public.
Special Concert at SMU:
As part of the PSO’s effort to continually expand audiences into new parts of North Texas, the Symphony has partnered with SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts to present a matinee performance of A Night in Vienna, the October 2023 subscription concert. Maestro Héctor Guzmán will conduct the orchestra and guest pianist, Krisztina Fejes, at Caruth Hall Auditorium, a beautiful 490-seat concert hall in the heart of the SMU campus. This is a single ticket standalone event on Sunday, October 22 at 4 PM.
For more information about these programs and more, visit planosymphony.org.