23-24 Season Concerts

Featuring the Olympia Symphony Orchestra's 2023 Young Artists Competition winners, Ava Pakiam and Chloe Song, the sky's the limit as we soar into a new era, inspired by up-and-coming artists, forward-thinking composers, and timeless music.

STRAVINSKY The Firebird
BARBER Violin Concerto (featuring Ava Pakiam, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 (featuring Chloe Song, piano)
MASON BATES Mothership

About the artwork (“Color the Season” youth category winner):
"The Color of Sound" by Sydney Morain
Medium: Digital, made on a Wacom Cintiq 16 (Clip Studio Pro)
Artist Statement: In this piece, I wanted to represent what I think sound would look like if you could see it. When I had this idea, I wanted to display the light and darkness of music by using different saturations of the colors. Using the different layers of the mandala, I wanted to show the different movements in a piece of music.

Set your musical muse loose with Jacob Bancks' concerto, written for world-renowned clarinetist Ricardo Morales, who will perform its WEST COAST PREMIERE with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra. After, delve into the vivid orchestral imaginings of Berlioz's symphony - it's simply fantastique!

JACOB BANCKS Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (featuring Ricardo Morales, clarinet)
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique

About the music:

Jacob Bancks is considered one of the most inspiring composers of his generation. His Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra was commissioned for Ricardo Morales and had its world premiere by the Philadelphia Orchestra. We are honored to present its West Coast Premiere, performed by its muse.

Inspired by its own muse, Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique will take you on a journey around and through the composer’s imagination, pushing the boundaries of programmatic orchestral music. This symphony is a profound exploration of the human psyche, obsession, and the power of music to vividly convey a story. There is no other word to describe this musical soundscape than “fantastique!”

About the artwork (“Color the Season” winner):
"Theatrical Chroma" by K Lobdell
Medium: Cold wax, oil, acrylic
Artist Statement: The geometric forms, textures and patterns in my artwork are carefully composed to convey the harmonies and dissonances found in music. Just as musicians intertwine contrasting notes to create tension and resolution, I juxtapose colors and shapes to evoke a similar ebb and flow. The vibrant crescendos and serene adagios of color mirror the condenses found in music, captivating and transporting viewers into a realm where sight and sound converge.

Based on a love story for the ages, explore musical expressions of prohibited love with the Olympia Symphony through this thought-provoking program, including dazzling audience favorite, Kristin Lee, and a surprise ending you won't want to miss!

PROKOFIEV/BERNSTEIN Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto (featuring Kristin Lee, violin)
…and a special MYSTERY PIECE!

About the music:

The three composers presented on this program – Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Bernstein – wrote music inspired by Shakespear’s tale of Romeo and Juliet. We will explore Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Bernstein’s West Side Story in an unconventional “mashup” presentation, comparing how each composer envisioned various scenes of the story, in parallel.

This will be followed by Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, which he composed at about the same time as his own Romeo and Juliet.

The theme of prohibited love permeates this concert, both in literal programmatic representations (Prokofiev and Bernstein) and in the inspiration of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Tchaikovsky intended to dedicate this concerto to his partner, but relented to the societal pressure to disguise his homosexuality.

This poignant, reflective concert will conclude with a very special unannounced encore that you will not want to miss.

About the artwork (“Color the Season” winner):
"A Blue Bossa Nova Summer" by Nancy Farrar-Coughlin
Medium: Acrylics on stretched canvas over wood
Artist Statement: While painting outside in my garden on a warm summer solstice afternoon, I was listening to my favorite jazz, Bossa Nova. The music and summer heat inspired this piece.

The Olympia Symphony presents a ground-breaking, unique collaboration that brings together live flamenco dancing and classical music. Filled with vibrancy and passion, our season finale will transport you to southern Spain to experience the heart and beat of this incredible culture!

Featuring:
Clara Rodriguez, flamenco dance
Miya Higashiyama, mezzo-soprano
….and more!

BIZET Selections from Carmen Suites
MANUEL de FALLA El Amor Brujo
RAVEL Boléro (arr Schlichting)

About the artwork (“Color the Season” winner):
"Joy" by Christine Echeverri
Medium: Oil on canvas board
Artist Statement: Colors and shapes are powerful ways to convey emotions. Joy is one of my favorite emotional places - exciting, lovely, beautiful, invigorating, cascading, flowing, moving. It does not stay put, but moves on from where it begins, rippling outward, and drawing people in.