The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestar announces “Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience” (October 2020)
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced that Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience will premiere on October 19, 2020, with the first of five episodes that will traverse the region and will offer classical music, popular music, and Holiday Pops as the series unfolds. All five episodes will be made available free to the public on the Pittsburgh Symphony’s website: pittsburghsymphony.org.
“As our country continues to experience the deep impact of the COVID pandemic, our hunger to create and to enjoy music also continues unabated. It is in that spirit that we have created Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience which brings together the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians, special friends and community partners to offer music to lift spirits, stories to inspire, and places and people to touch your soul,” said Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. “After we announced the reinvention of the 125th season in August, we went into high gear and have worked relentlessly, within health and government restrictions, to bring the fantastic sound of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to the world in this new digital series.”
Each episode will run about 60-90 minutes long with music performed by ensembles of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra accompanied by special interviews and other features that bridge the musical journey that is guided by the episode’s particular theme. These features will include looks behind the scenes of this world-class orchestra; an exploration of Heinz Hall with host Jim Cunningham, artistic director at WQED-FM; and, unique perspectives from the musicians, conductors and other members of the Pittsburgh Symphony leadership, with interviewer Sydni Grant Goldman. Today, the Orchestra announced the details of Episode One: Our Love for Pittsburgh and that more about the additional episodes will be revealed in October.
Episode One: Our Love for Pittsburgh
Premiere: October 19, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. EDT
pittsburghsymphony.org
The virtual curtain rises to the sounds of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, a piece written just a decade before the founding of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a noble, generous work that exemplifies Pittsburgh and its people. This episode continues with works from composers as varied as Jessie Montgomery, Francesco Geminiani, Ennio Morricone, and Billy Strayhorn, as the Orchestra salutes Pittsburgh through a glorious musical exploration of our dramatic geographic setting and the people drawn to it—the innovators, the immigrants, the trailblazers and the artists. In this episode, the Pittsburgh Symphony welcomes acclaimed violinist Alexi Kenney as guest Concertmaster and leader.