SoNA Announces ‘Biggest and Boldest’ Season Yet
2022-23 Season Begins Oct. 29 at Walton Arts Center Featuring Soloists Julian Schwarz, Miriam Khalil, Trevor New, and Angela Cheng
The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) is thrilled to announce its 2022-23 Season concert lineup at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. Tickets and season subscriptions are now on sale.
SoNA’s new 2022-23 Season will kick off Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, and continue through Saturday, April 29, 2023. Performing under the baton of Music Director Paul Haas, the area’s beloved professional symphony will present eight concert performances, the largest lineup in SoNA’s history, in Baum Walker Hall at Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St.
“This season we ‘imagine big’ and present music that reflects our bold vision for our orchestra and the wide possibilities of orchestral music,” says Haas. “We represent the past and present of our artform through time-honored works by Copland, William Grant Still, Brahms, and so much more. SoNA also shows the powerful future of our artform through works by contemporary visionaries like Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Jessica Meyer, collaborating with guest artists that also point to our artform’s bright future.”
The season’s featured soloists include cellist Julian Schwarz, soprano Miriam Khalil, violist/composer Trevor New, and pianist Angela Cheng.
“This season is also our biggest and boldest yet, as we expand our mainstage programming from five to six concert programs and represent a wide perspective of what orchestral music can do,” adds D. Riley Nicholson, SoNA Executive Director. “This addition to the season is a pops concert, fittingly titled Battle of the Bands; we’ll go head-to-head with the venerable Fayetteville Jazz Collective to form a hybrid orchestra jazz band that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
The new season begins on Oct. 29 with a concert fittingly titled Imagine Big, presenting Jessica Meyer’s Go Big or Go Home, paired with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 featuring cellist Julian Schwarz, and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Connecting all these works is a spirit of ambition, imagination, and contagious energy that speaks to SoNA’s vibrant future.
Then in December, audiences can celebrate the magic and beauty of the holidays with two performances of A Very SoNA Christmas on Dec. 10 featuring The SoNA Singers, followed by The Snowman: A Family Concert on Dec. 11 featuring a special screening of the runaway hit film (The Snowman) complete with live orchestral soundtrack.
On Jan. 7, 2023, SoNA starts the New Year with Mother and Child, a cathartic, emotional program that touches a core human experience – each piece evokes a love that exists across time, between a mother and her child. This concert presents William Grant Still’s Mother and Child, Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Henryk Górecki‘s Symphony of Sorrows featuring soprano Miriam Khalil.
Showcasing SoNA’s ability to bring time-honored to new life as well as its ability to think boldly to the future and forge new paths, on March 11, 2023, the season continues with New Canons, a concert that embodies SoNA’s commitment to the past, present, and future of music. This concert includes new works that will be presented on SoNA’s upcoming album release — for the first time ever, SoNA is releasing a full-length album with music that artfully blends virtual and “in real life” performances by SoNA musicians and special guest soloists and ensembles from around the world — featuring music by composers Ray Lustig, Trevor New, and SoNA Music Director Paul Haas. And to celebrate this release, SoNA will feature all these pieces in a live performance, with virtual tie-ins to multiple international locations. Following intermission, the orchestra will perform the joyously beautiful Symphony No. 3 in F Major by Johannes Brahms, which Haas describes as “truly one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever written.”
Then in April, SoNA presents two concerts: On April 8, 2023, Battle of the Bands brings SoNA and the Fayetteville Jazz Collective together, alternating between pieces played by the jazz band, pieces played by the orchestra, and then pieces played together, for an evening of genre-defying music that will be enjoyed by a wide variety of music lovers.
The season wraps up on April 29 with Evoking Folklore. The concert begins with Chokfi (Rabbit), a captivating, rhythmic piece by Chickasaw Nation composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate. This programming selection speaks to SoNA’s wide view of orchestral music and its commitment to uncover music that has been historically and unjustifiably ignored by the classical industry. Each of the works on the program are captivating storytelling of folklore: starting with Chicksaw Nation tales, then traditional Spanish stories with Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain featuring pianist Angela Cheng, and lastly classic Americana evocations with Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3.
Season subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now! To secure your seats or purchase tickets, visit the ticketing links embedded above, or call the Walton Arts Center box office at (479) 443-5600.
Subscription package prices range from $195 to $320, based on seating preferences, and include all six mainstage concerts (The Snowman: A Family Concert not included). Student subscriptions start at $50 with valid I.D.
Single ticket prices range from $36 to $60 (excluding The Snowman), based on seating preferences. Discount student tickets are available with a student photo I.D. Children under 18 are free with the purchase of an adult ticket (limited quantities). All tickets to The Snowman are $10.
2022-23 Season Featured Soloists
Julian Schwarz
Miriam Khalil
Trevor New
Angela Cheng