PORTLAND – The Portland Symphony Orchestra will ring in the new year with performances that include an endowment benefit concert with world-famous soprano Renée Fleming, an all-Mozart concert and a PSO Pops tribute to the music of World War II.

All concerts are presented at Merrill Auditorium.

• Tuesday Classical: “Shostakovich Tenth Symphony” – Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m.

Music Director Robert Moody will lead the PSO in a concert opening with George Gershwin’s Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra with Orion Weiss as soloist. In the second half of the program, the PSO takes on Dmitri Shastakovich’s passionate Symphony No. 10 in E minor.

• Sunday Classical: “All-Mozart Matinee” – Jan. 25, 2:30 p.m.

The PSO will celebrate Mozart’s birthday (Jan. 27) with a concert led by Christian Knapp and featuring guest soloist William Hudgins, principal clarinet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The concert opens with the Overture to Don Giovanni and also includes Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, considered among Mozart’s greatest works, as well as the Adagio & Fugue, K. 546; Masonic Funeral Music; and Symphony No. 35 in D Major, “Haffner.” The concert begins at 2:30 p.m.

• PSO endowment benefit concert: “An Evening with Renée Fleming” – Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m.

The PSO will welcome Fleming in her Maine debut, following performances at the Metropolitan Opera and Washington Opera, and with orchestras and in recitals around the world. Fleming will perform works from both the classical and popular repertoire under Moody’s baton.

• PSO Pops: “Radio Days” – Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m.

Equal parts radio console and sound stage, this concert will feature music by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and others, plus segments from vintage serials, comedies and quiz shows. Paying tribute to the vocal groups and big bands of the 1940s, the PSO will be joined by guest ensemble Five By Design, one of the nation’s leading symphony pops artists and interpreters of the American popular song. The orchestra will be led by Charles Latshaw, music director of the Bloomington (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra and the Columbus Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

PSO tickets are sold through PortTix at 842-0800 or www.porttix.com. Tickets may also be purchased in person from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the box office at 20 Myrtle St. For complete season information, including artist biographies and program notes, visit www.portlandsymphony.com.


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