Bangor, ME – The Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 season begins on Sunday, September 27, 2015 with a 3 p.m. performance at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono. The opening program led by BSO Music Director and Conductor Lucas Richman will feature his own Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: In Truth with pianist Jeffrey Biegel, as well as Dvořák’s majestic Symphony No. 9, From the New World.
The concert marks the beginning of the BSO’s 120th season. To celebrate the occasion, Maestro Richman has created a far-ranging program of American works and works inspired by America. Peggy Stuart Coolidge’s Pioneer Dances will open the concert, before Richman’s own Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: In Truth.
The concerto premiered at the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and was released on a recording by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra earlier this month. Richman says the piece “reflects upon truths perceived, truths accepted and truths verified, with the piano soloist serving as a protagonist who alternates between abiding by society’s universal ‘truths’ and railing against those who create new ‘truths’ so as to avoid personal culpability.” In Truth is having its Maine premiere in this performance by Jeffrey Biegel, the acclaimed New York-based pianist for whom Richman wrote the piece.
The concert will conclude with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World. Premiered in New York in 1893—just three years prior to the BSO’s debut—the New World symphony is a favorite of audiences and musicians alike who are drawn to Dvořák’s powerful rhythms and unforgettable melodies.
A pre-concert talk will be held at 2 p.m. before the performance at the Collins Center for the Arts. Tickets range from $19 to $45 and are available at bangorsymphony.org or by phone at (800) 622-TIXX. Student tickets are available for $13.