DUE TO COVID-19, ALL PUBLIC EVENTS AT BENAROYA HALL CANCELED THROUGH MARCH 31, 2020
Seattle, WA – In accordance with the latest mandate from Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Benaroya Hall will be closed for all public events through March 31, 2020 in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The following performances and events are canceled or postponed:
March 12, 14: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
March 13: Tchaikovsky Untuxed
March 14: First Concerts: Meet the Tuba
March 15: Byron Schenkman & Friends – Vivaldi in Paris: Baroque Virtuosity
March 17: Seattle Arts & Lectures: Min Jin Lee (postponed to June 15)
March 19, 21: R. Strauss Salome
March 20: Beethoven & Shostakovich
March 20–21: Seattle Men’s Chorus – Love Beyond Borders (postponed)
March 21: Seattle Classic Guitar Society presents Michael Partington
March 22–24: National Geographic Live Hidden Wild: Secrets of the Everglades
March 26: NPR’s How I Built This with Guy Raz: Live
March 27–29: The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra
March 28: Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra – “Serene Cheer and Warm Sunshine”: Brahms’ Second
March 30: Musical Conversations: Gershwin
Ticket holders may apply the ticket value toward an upcoming Seattle Symphony performance, hold the value on account, or donate their tickets back to Seattle Symphony. Ticket holders will receive an email regarding all the options available and can contact the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office by emailing tickets@seattlesymphony.org or calling 206.215.4747. Updates on Seattle Symphony and for Benaroya Hall concerts and events can be found at the links provided.
“The Seattle Symphony has been here through many of our city’s most significant moments,” comments President & CEO Krishna Thiagarajan. “As we come together to protect the health of our community, the Symphony remains dedicated to providing comfort, strength and joy. We appreciate your ongoing support of the orchestra, and all our state’s cultural institutions, during this uncertain time.”
Governor Inslee’s decision prioritizes public health by restricting all large gatherings, and the Seattle Symphony is committed to the health and safety of everyone at Benaroya Hall.
Information about supporting the Seattle Symphony through donations can be found online at seattlesymphony.org/give.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 500,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.
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See below for a detailed listing of concerts affected:
TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 5
MASTERWORKS SEASON
Thursday, March 12, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 14, 8 p.m.
Eun Sun Kim, conductor
Elisa Barson, violin
Prokofiev Symphony No. 1, “Classical”
Price Violin Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
Florence Price’s Second Violin Concerto is startingly fresh, weaving influences from African American spirituals into the tapestry of the orchestra. Prokofiev’s whimsical First Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s gut-wrenching Fifth show two Russian outsiders arriving at bold and highly personal strategies to cast aside the heavy mantles of Mozart and Beethoven.
TCHAIKOVSKY UNTUXED
UNTUXED SERIES
Friday, March 13, 7 p.m.
Eun Sun Kim, conductor
Jonathan Green, host
Prokofiev Symphony No. 1, “Classical”
Price Violin Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
Prokofiev’s whimsical First Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s gut-wrenching Fifth show two Russian outsiders arriving at bold and highly personal strategies to cast aside the heavy mantles of Mozart and Beethoven.
FIRST CONCERTS: MEET THE TUBA
FIRST CONCERTS / SENSORY FRIENDLY
Saturday, March 14, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
John DiCesare, tuba
Colby Cumine, host
Meet the tuba in Octave 9! Seattle Symphony Principal Tuba John DiCesare will perform short pieces and invite questions from curious little ones in a sensory friendly environment. Children will learn how to be musical explorers and try out instruments before the show.
BYRON SCHENKMAN & FRIENDS – VIVALDI IN PARIS: BAROQUE VIRTUOSITY
BENAROYA HALL EVENTS
Sunday, March 15, 7 p.m.
Martin Bernstein, recorder
Anna Marsh, bassoon
Byron Schenkman, harpsichord
Sonatas by Vivaldi and his French contemporaries, introducing recorder phenom and international competition winner Martin Bernstein.
SEATTLE ARTS & LECTURES: MIN JIN LEE
BENAROYA HALL EVENTS
Previously Tuesday, March 17, 7:30 p.m.
Postponed to Monday, June 15
Join Seattle Arts & Lectures for an evening with Min Jin Lee. Lee is the author of Pachinko, a sweeping, four-generation epic celebrated as the first novel written for an adult audience in English that focuses on Japanese-Korean culture. A finalist for the 2017 National Book Award in fiction, Pachinko is “a beautifully crafted story of love, loss, determination, luck, and perseverance” (Library Journal).
R. STRAUSS SALOME
MASTERWORKS SERIES
Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 21, 8 p.m.
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Gun-Brit Barkmin, soprano
Michaela Martens, mezzo-soprano
Peter Bronder, tenor
Strauss Don Juan, Op. 20
Strauss Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24 (“Death and Transfiguration”)
Strauss Salome Part II
Combining breathless virtuosity with the high emotion and drama, Music Director Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony bring music from Richard Strauss’ sensational opera to Benaroya Hall. With a hair-raising plot adapted from Oscar Wilde’s scandalous play, Salome Part II condenses all the thrills of grand opera into one act of edge-of-your-seat intensity.
Renowned soprano Gun-Brit Barkmin performs the title role of Salome, a Judean princess hopelessly infatuated with the prophet Jokanaan. Her stepfather, King Herod, promises to give her anything she wants if she dances for him. This concert staging begins with Salome’s infamous “Dance of the Seven Veils” and ends with the final scene as Herod orders Salome crushed to death under the shields of his soldiers.
Strauss often sought inspiration in philosophy and theater, and Dausgaard has beautifully curated this all-Strauss concert to reveal different lenses through which to listen. In addition to selections from the opera, he has programmed two wordless tone poems for orchestra: the stirring Don Juan and the gorgeously moody Death and Transfiguration.
Performances of Salome are generously underwritten by The Nesholm Family Foundation.
Peter Bronder and Ross Hauck’s performances are supported by the Melvyn Poll Tenor Fund.
BEETHOVEN & SHOSTAKOVICH
CHAMBER SERIES
Friday, March 20, 8 p.m.
Seattle Symphony musicians
Beethoven String Quartet No. 11, “Serioso”
Martinú La revue de cuisine Suite
Beethoven Horn Sextet
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 9
While composing his Ninth String Quartet, Shostakovich discarded a whimsical early version based on childhood themes and opted for a more assertive musical narrative. Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11, subtitled “Serioso,” foreshadows some of Shostakovich’s trademarks, including dramatic, unexpected harmonic shifts and experimental structures. His Horn Sextet unfolds like a smaller-scale concerto, with virtuosic horn lines supported by the string quartet.
SEATTLE MEN’S CHORUS – LOVE BEYOND BORDERS
BENAROYA HALL EVENTS
Friday, March 20, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 21, 2 p.m.
Postponed, new date TBD
What would you do for love? Would you cross oceans and boundaries, leave behind your past for a future of freedom and possibility? Inspiring musical stories of escape and hope are joined by pop sounds from LGBTQ artists from across the globe including Freddie Mercury, Ricky Martin and k.d. lang.
Featuring a world premiere commission inspired by the lives of LGBTQ refugees who experienced incredible adversity in their efforts to seek safety and leave behind the home countries that did not accept them. With music from Caldwell and Ivory, Lyn Rye, and Michael Bussewitz-Quarm. Plus, the premiere performance of a new song from Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, Bonnie McKee.
MICHAEL PARTINGTON
BENAROYA HALL EVENTS
Saturday, March 21, 7:30 p.m.
Michael Partington is one of the most engaging of the new generation of concert players. Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine for his "lyricism, intensity and clear technical command," this award-winning British guitarist has performed internationally as a soloist and with ensemble to unanimous critical praise. Audiences are put at ease by his charming stage manner and captivated by his musical interpretations. His innate rhythmic understanding and sense for tonal colour combine to form some of the most memorable phrasing to be heard on the guitar. An advocate of new music, he has commissioned and premiered works by prominent contemporary composers. "Partington possesses a most refined manner in everything he does with the guitar: his technique is polished and effortless, his phrasing clear and logical, his tone most appealing, clean and powerful." - West Sussex Guitar Club News
HIDDEN WILD: SECRETS OF THE EVERGLADES
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE
Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m.
Monday, March 23, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30 p.m.
Author, photographer, conservationist and National Geographic explorer Carlton Ward Jr. travels the world to find and document conservation stories that have not yet been told. He has lived deep in the Amazon, documented new species in the rainforests of the Gabon and photographed endangered desert elephants in Mali. Then he discovered the biggest untold story of his career hiding in his own back yard.
An eighth-generation Floridian, he is now using his camera to tell the story of a little-known world surviving in the shadows of the beaches and amusement parks that dominate Florida’s identity. He has trekked more than 2,000 miles on two National Geographic-supported expeditions, fighting to protect an endangered wildlife corridor needed to keep the Everglades connected to the rest of America. Join him to follow the footsteps of bears, panthers and cowboys while discovering the wonders of a hidden world on the brink of being lost.
National Geographic Live brings the top National Geographic photographers, scientists, filmmakers and adventurers to audiences around the world to share their unbelievable behind-the-scenes stories and stunning images and video.
This event is presented by the Seattle Symphony. The orchestra will not perform on this program.
NPR’S HOW I BUILT THIS WITH GUY RAZ: LIVE
LIVE AT BENAROYA HALL
Thursday, March 26, 8 p.m.
After over two years, NPR's How I Built This with Guy Raz is returning to Seattle with special guests Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman co-founders of the independent record label Sub Pop.
After more than two years, NPR's How I Built This Live with Guy Raz is returning to Seattle! On Thursday, March 26, join host Guy Raz for a conversation with Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, co-founders of the independent record label Sub Pop. You’ll learn all about their journey: from their not-so-humble beginnings representing Nirvana and Soundgarden, to their recent foray into comedy records, and their continuous effort to represent musicians that they love and believe in.
Like NPR's How I Built This podcast, the evening will motivate you to think big as you embark on your own ventures: business, non-profit, creative and beyond.
NPR thanks its Seattle member stations, KUOW, KNKX, and KEXP for their support of this event!
THE LEGENDARY COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA
SEATTLE POPS SERIES
Friday, March 27, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 28, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 29, 2 p.m.
Scotty Barnhart, director
Count Basie Orchestra
The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra celebrates 85 years of classic Basie swing! This historic orchestra, directed by Scotty Barnhart, brings to Benaroya Hall such seminal big band hits as “April in Paris,” “One O’ Clock Jump,” “Li’l Darlin” and “Shiny Stockings.” Winners of 18 Grammy Awards and known as “the most explosive force in jazz,” they will be joined by vocalist Carmen Bradford for tributes to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
SEATTLE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA – “SERENE CHEER AND WARM SUNSHINE”: BRAHMS’ SECOND
BENAROYA HALL EVENTS
Saturday, March 28, 2 p.m.
The Philharmonic presents the third U.S. premiere of the season: Pyramid, a stirring tone poem by Sweden-based American composer Molly Kien ("a major new voice" — Fanfare Magazine). The winner of the Philharmonic's 2019 Don Bushell Competition, the radiant soprano Allison Pohl, will be heard in a selection of lieder by Richard Strauss. Closing the concert is Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 2, the sunniest of its composer's four symphonies and a perennial audience favorite.
MUSICAL CONVERSATIONS: GERSHWIN
MUSICAL CONVERSATIONS
Monday, March 30, 7 p.m.
University of Washington Professor Emeritus Dr. Larry Starr leads insightful conversations exploring the fascinating stories about the composers and music on the Seattle Symphony stage.