ORCHESTRAL
Stewart Kershaw
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Auburn Symphony—Music director Stewart Kershaw draws on his expertise as the conductor of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in the ASO's all-Tchaikovsky season opener: the Swan Lake suite, the Violin Concerto (with Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi), and the Third Symphony (10/28-29). For concert info, call 939-8509.
Bainbridge Symphony—Kathleen Macferran makes her debut with the ensemble this season, conducting Rossini, Bizet, and Schubert (11/18-19) on the first of three concerts. 842-8569.
Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra— On Thursday nights is the five-concert Masterworks series; Fridays are for "Sound Bites," shorter family-friendly programs with commentary. Conductor Fusao Kajima opens with Mozart, Maxwell-Davies (An Orkney Wedding, with bagpipe soloist John Dally), and Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique (10/12-13). Later highlights include Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Sixth Symphony (11/16). Their holiday Messiah is 12/16. 425-455-4171.
Cascade Symphony—Gregory Sullivan Isaacs leads an "Orchestral Spectacular" to open the season, with baritone Kurt Ollmann and the Boeing Employees Chorus (10/22-23). Sunday afternoon concerts are at Puget Sound Christian College in Edmonds; Monday evenings are at the Moore Theater in Belltown. 425-778-4688.
Northwest Chamber Orchestra—Soprano Carol Vaness joins conductor Adam Stern and the NWCO for the season opener, a concert of operatic favorites and instrumental works by opera composers (9/23-24). Keyboard guest soloists include Ian Hobson playing Mendelssohn (10/21-22) and Igor Kipnis in a concert of Bach's complete Brandenburgs (12/8-10). The NWCO's inaugurating a Viva Voce vocal recital series with Seattle Opera favorite Vinson Cole (10/15). Their Showcase Chamber Music Series comprises four concerts at Benaroya (11/12, 2/4/01, 3/11/01, 4/22/01), and their Music in the Park series at the Seattle Asian Art Museum spotlights five composers: Beethoven (10/8), Handel (10/29), Mozart (1/28/01), Tchaikovsky (3/4/01), and Debussy (4/29/01). 343-0445.
Northwest Mahler Festival—This gathering of local community orchestra players is participating in Benaroya Hall's third annual Day of Music (9/17), repeating all or part of their magnificent performance of Mahler's Eighth from last July. 667-6567.
Northwest Sinfonietta—Christophe Chagnard leads the 10th season for this acclaimed chamber orchestra, which ventures away from its Tacoma home once to the Kirkland Performance Center (Bach's Christmas Oratorio, 12/3) and twice to Benaroya in 2001. 425-893-9900 or 296-ARTS.
Northwest Symphony—Anthony Spain keeps up his tradition of including a local composer on every program, selecting Gregory Short's Phato and David Mesler's Dance Macabre, along with Bach and Mussorgsky, for their 10/27 season opener. 242-6321.
Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers—Their opening gala features Brahms' Violin Concerto (with soloist Sharyn Petersen) and Mozart's Requiem (10/22). Next comes Telemann, Milhaud, and Haydn (11/19); three Magnificats by Schtz, Charpentier, and Bach (12/1 and 12/3); and their Messiah (12/17). George Shangrow conducts. 682-5208.
Philharmonia Northwest—Their first full season in Town Hall showed off what a splendid space it is. Roupen Shakarian brings them back for Stravinsky, Mozart, and Mendelssohn (10/22); violist Helen Callus plus Kurt Weill, Vaughan-Williams, and Shakarian's own Whimsy (12/3). 675-9727.
Seattle Baroque—Six concerts of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal works led by concertmaster Ingrid Matthews and keyboardist Byron Schenkman. There'll be three of Bach's Brandenburgs, plus Telemann and Handel, on their season opener (10/5-7). The Messiah arrives 12/8-10. They're playing, by my count, in six different venues this season, so watch our calendar closely for details. 322-3118.
Seattle Creative Orchestra—Redefining the orchestra by including nonstandard instruments (from the accordion to the synthesizer) and instruments from other cultures is their mission; their first concert features new works by Christopher Adler, Jacqueline Jeeyoung Kim, and Christopher Shainin, plus John Cage's rapturously meditative Ryoanji (10/28). 789-3628.
Seattle Philharmonic—They're opening with an encore performance of the Thistle Theater's lovely rod-puppet staging of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade (a hit last fall), along with music by Bach, Coleridge-Taylor, and Menotti (12/2-3). Marsha Mabrey conducts. 525-0443.
Seattle Symphony—Their season is bracketed by two festivals: a Beethoven orgy (9/27-10/1) including all five piano concertos played by John Browning and Garrick Ohlsson (not simultaneously, of course), plus assorted symphonies and overtures. The Third Annual Opening Gala brings together violinist Pinchas Zukerman, soprano Arianna Zukerman, music director Gerard Schwarz, and Mozart and Tchaikovsky (9/16). The Day of Music, the SSO's music-fair gift to the city, follows on 9/17. Benaroya Hall's new Watjen Concert Organ gets a workout in the piece everyone's been waiting for, Saint-Sa뮳' Organ Symphony (9/21-24). Fall soloists include violinists Vadim Repin (playing Sibelius, 10/5-7) and Tamaki Kawakubo (Mozart's Fifth Violin Concerto, 11/9-12), and pianists Emanuel Ax (Chopin's Concerto No. 1, 11/16-18) and C飩le Ousset (Saint-Sa뮳' Second, 11/30-12/3). Contemporary repertory for the fall season includes music by Samuel Jones (11/9-12), Andrzej Panufnik (11/16-18), Siegfried Matthus (11/30-12/3), with more to come in 2001. Distinguished Artists—Chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica (10/28), plus there'll be three Symphony Specials concerts with stellar pianist Alicia de Larrocha (10/20. The Mainly Mozart series features, as usual, lots of Wolfgang's piano concertos (10/26-27 begins this series). What else? The Basically Baroque series (11/3-4, 1/5-6, and 3/2-3). Five Pops concerts (10/12-15, 12/7-10, 2/15-18, 3/8-11, 6/14-17). As part of the Popular Culture concerts: the Flying Karamazov Brothers (11/2), and a Light Classics concert (12/30). Then there's three weeks of holiday celebration from klezmer to Beethoven's Ninth, in December. Finally, the SSO invites in the competition in the Visiting Orchestras series: the Academy of Ancient Music comes first (Bach and Handel, 11/14). 215-4747.
