The Grand Rapids Symphony unveiled its 2018-19 season with classical blockbusters, eminent soloists, pop/rock music favorites, great films and much more.
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet
The Classical Series led by Music Director Marcelo Lehninger welcomes world-renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and rising star violinist Karen Gomyo to DeVos Hall for a season of music including Beethoven’s stirring Symphony No. 7, Rimsky-Korsakov’s sultry Scheherazade, Schubert’s beautiful “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8, and Rachmaninoff’s mighty Piano Concerto No. 2.
Three-time Grammy Award winner Michelle DeYoung, a mezzo-soprano who was born in Grand Rapids and attended Calvin College, returns to DeVos Hall for the first time in 12 seasons. Also meet Marcelo’s mother, Brazilian pianist Sonia Goulart, who’s enjoyed an international career as a concert artist. will be performing with the Grand Rapids Symphony.
The Pops Series under Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt features jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli playing the music of Paul McCartney; trumpeter Byron Stripling with ragtime, jazz and blues; and singer and pianist Tony DeSare with great songs of Frank Sinatra.
Enjoy many nights at the movies with live music from the Grand Rapids Pop accompanying Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” and Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone.”
Cirque de la Symphonie will return for Christmas for the 10th annual Cirque de Noel. Local soloists will include violinist and concertmaster James Crawford and principal oboist Ellen Sherman.
Season tickets are on sale now with select concerts also on sale to subscribers. Subscriptions are available at a discount of up to 50 percent off select series and seats for new package orders. Current subscribers have until February 28 to renew their subscriptions. Single tickets will be available beginning July 31.
Tickets are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 am-5 pm, at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616-454-9451, ext. 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $4 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)
Decking the halls with boughs of holly and hanging the stockings by the chimney with care are favorite December traditions for many West Michigan families.
The Grand Rapids Symphony celebrates the season with two enduring holiday traditions in Grand Rapids including the Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops and the Old National Bank Cirque de Noël in DeVos Performance Hall.
The Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops, an institution that’s lasted for decades, draws entire families from children to parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Join the Grand Rapids Pops to celebrate the season in five performances Dec. 14-17.
Old National Bank Cirque de Noël welcomes Cirque de la Symphonie back to Grand Rapids for cirque artistry accompanied by the Grand Rapids Pops. See amazing acrobats and aerial artists in two appearances Dec. 21 and 22.
The Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops, part of the Fox Motors Pops Series, is home-grown entertainment especially for a hometown audience.
Guest vocalist for the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Holiday Pops performance is Leon Williams.
Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt leads performances including such favorites as Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and highlights from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus, conducted by Pearl Shangkuan, joins the orchestra to sing G.F. Handel’s “Hallelujah” Chorus from The Messiah.
The Grand Rapids Symphony Youth Chorus, directed by Sean Ivory, will be featured on John Rutter’s “Star Carol.” Both choruses will sing music from the 1990 movie Home Alone with orchestra.
Embellish handbell ensemble, directed by Stephanie Wiltse, will join the Symphony Chorus for “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and will play a solo number, “Change Ring Prelude on Divinum Mysterium” by Fred Gramann,” on a battery of handbells.
Guest vocalist Leon Williams joins the Grand Rapids Symphony to sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” in his third Holiday Pops appearance with the orchestra.
Though Williams doesn’t live in West Michigan, he’s made many appearances here. In October, he sang for the funeral of Grand Rapids Symphony benefactor and philanthropist Helen DeVos.
The Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, and at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 15-16. Matinees will be at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 16-17 in DeVos Performance Hall.
Families with children are invited to the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Wolverine World Wide Holiday Pops Spectacular on Saturday, Dec. 16, just before the 3 p.m. matinee concert. Beginning at 1 p.m., children can enjoy festive treats, arts and crafts, games, and much more leading up to the concert at 3 p.m. Tickets for the Holiday Pops Spectacular plus the Holiday Pops are $20. Supporting Sponsor is Meijer, Inc. Community Partners are Amerikam and Calvin College.
The Old National Bank Cirque de Noël, part of the Gerber SymphonicBoom Series, returns to DeVos Performance Hall for the eighth annual holiday show Dec. 21 and 22.
See aerial artists, gymnasts, jugglers and strongmen and hear classical favorites and seasonal music.
Acts include aerial artists Nataliya Tolstikova and Sergey Parshin performing on silk above the DeVos Hall stage while the Grand Rapids Symphony plays the “Waltz of the Flowers” from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.
Associate Conductor John Varineau leads the orchestra in music from the 2004 film The Polar Express plus familiar melodies such as “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.”
Tickets
Tickets for the Wolverine World Wide Holiday Pops start at $18.
Student tickets for concerts on Thursday, Dec. 14 and for the matinee on Saturday, Dec. 16 also are available for $5. Full-time students of any age are able to purchase tickets for only $5 on the night of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Tickets program, sponsored by Comerica and Calvin College. This is a MySymphony360 eligible concert.
Tickets for Old National Bank Cirque de Noël start at $32.
Tickets for both program are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616-454-9451 x 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt leads the Grand Rapids Symphony in the annual Holiday Pops. (Supplied)
Get a head start on your Christmas shopping and get tickets to two of the Grand Rapids Symphony’s most popular shows at up to half-off through the Before it Snows Sale! Now through Oct. 31, residents can save up to 50 percent on tickets for the Grand Rapids Pops’ Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops and Old National Bank Cirque de Noël.
Ring in the holiday cheer with heartwarming seasonal favorites including Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” highlights from “The Nutcracker,” and lots of Christmas carols at the Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops. The Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus and Youth Chorus plus vocalist Leon Williams and Embellish Handbell Ensemble join Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt and the Grand Rapids Symphony in five performances as part of the Fox Motors Pops series.
Wolverine World Wide Holiday Pops is at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14; 8 p.m. Dec. 15 and 16, and 3 p.m. Dec. 16 and 17.
Experience the magic of Christmas, the wonder of Cirque artistry, and the power and beauty of live orchestral music at the Old National Bank Cirque de Noël when Cirque de la Symphonie joins the Grand Rapids Pops and Associate Conductor John Varineau. The Before It Snow Sale is only good for the Cirque de Noel Thursday, Dec. 21, performance which is at 7:30 p.m.
Both the Holiday Pops and the Cirque de Noel performances will be at DeVos Performance Hall, 303 Monroe Ave. NW.
For tickets, call 616-454-9451, ext. 4, during the day or 616-885-1241, evenings; go online to GRSymphony.org or come to the Grand Rapids Symphony office located across from the Calder Plaza at 300 Ottawa NW, Suite 100. This is is a maximum of four tickets per program, per household.
LB/LB-two colossal multi-talented geniuses make up this entertaining program devised by Michael Christie. Anticipating Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday by a year, this pairing of two of his finest works with the music of a composer Bernstein performed nearly every year of his career will make for a truly satisfying evening. With the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus front and center the concert closes with Beethoven’s ‘warm up’ to the Ninth Symphony-the Choral Fantasy with a text extolling the brotherhood of humanity. In the Chichester Psalms, Bernstein draws on his Jewish heritage to exhort humankind to goodness, drawing on some of the most beloved Psalms of the Old Testament. The theatrical Beethoven and Bernstein round out the program with Beethoven’s third and most thrilling try at an overture to his only opera and with a suite from Bernstein’s score for the iconic Marlon Brando film.
Dates:
04/21/2017, 8 p.m.
04/22/2017, 8 p.m.
Location:
DeVos Performance Hall, 303 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
