NOTICE OF PROGRAM CHANGE: STAR-CROSS’D AT THE SYMPHONY REPLACES BERNSTEIN SONGFEST ON JUNE 15 & 17, FEATURING GUEST CONDUCTOR MARIN ALSOP

BERNSTEIN’S SYMPHONIC DANCES FROM WEST SIDE STORY AND TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO AND JULIET FANTASY OVERTURE TO REPLACE BERNSTEIN’S SONGFEST

Seattle, WA – Due to changes in artist availability for the performances of the Bernstein Songfest concert, the Seattle Symphony has revised the June 15 & 17 program to feature three works on the theme of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In place of Bernstein’s Songfest, the orchestra will perform Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture alongside the previously announced Suite from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev. World-renowned conductor Marin Alsop returns to Benaroya Hall to lead the performances under the new concert name, Star-Cross’d at the Symphony. 

First on the program is Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, which audiences are sure to recognize with its pop-culture prevalent love theme. Next is another favorite, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, which displays the legendary composer’s jaunty take on the tragic tale, this time set in 1950s-era New York City. Rounding out the concert is Prokofiev’s rendition of the famous play, Suite from Romeo and Juliet, a well-known ballet that originally clocked in at over two hours long.

Ticket Information

For more information on tickets to Star-Cross’d at the Symphony, please visit seattlesymphony.org or contact the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office. The Seattle Symphony Ticket Office is located in Benaroya Hall, at Third Avenue and Union Street. The Ticket Office can be reached by phone at 206.215.4747 during the following times: Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

MARIN ALSOP | CONDUCTOR 

A conductor of vision and distinction, Marin Alsop represents a powerful and inspiring voice. Convinced that music has the power to change lives, she is internationally recognized for her innovative approach to programming, audience development, and deep commitment to education and advocacy for music’s importance in the world. In 2021, Alsop became Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. This concluded her outstanding 14-year tenure as Music Director, which saw her lead the orchestra on its first European tour in 13 years, on multiple award-winning recordings and in more than two dozen world premieres, in addition to founding its successful music education program for the city’s most disadvantaged youth, OrchKids.

Alsop has longstanding relationships with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras, and regularly guest conducts such major international ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Budapest Festival and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras. Recognized with multiple Gramophone Awards, Alsop’s extensive discography includes recordings for Decca, Harmonia Mundi and Sony Classical, and acclaimed Naxos cycles of Brahms with the London Philharmonic, Dvořák with the Baltimore Symphony and Prokofiev with the São Paulo Symphony. Committed to new music, she was Music Director of California’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music for 25 years. 

The first and only conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, Alsop has also been honored with the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award and made history as the first female conductor of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms. Amongst many other awards and academic positions, she serves as 2020 Artist-in-Residence at Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts, is Director of Graduate Conducting at the Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute and holds Honorary Doctorates from Yale University and the Juilliard School. To promote and nurture the careers of her fellow female conductors, in 2002 she founded the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, which was re-named in her honor as the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship in 2020. 

SEATTLE SYMPHONY

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, 27 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 750,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts, and through the Seattle Symphony+ streaming service, the orchestra’s concerts reach audiences at home and around the world.

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STAR-CROSS’D AT THE SYMPHONY
MASTERWORKS SERIES 
Thursday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. 
Saturday, June 17, at 8 p.m.

Marin Alsop conductor

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story 
Prokofiev Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Marin Alsop’s performances are generously sponsored by Marco Argenti and Dorothy Li.