SoNA Announces Vision for Newly Reimagined 2020-21 Season
The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas is delighted to announce its vision for a newly reimagined 2020-21 Season, featuring intimate outdoor performances, virtual concerts, livestream experiences and more.
After announcing earlier this year an impressive seven-concert 2020-21 Season mainstage lineup at Walton Arts Center, spanning October 2020 through May 2021, SoNA ultimately had to postpone its originally planned concerts due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since that time, SoNA leadership has been hard at work finding innovative ways to continue bringing Northwest Arkansas patrons the music they love, through virtual experiences and reimagined performances for smaller audiences with appropriate safety measures in place.
“While admittedly a challenging time for symphonies everywhere, we have a rare opportunity to reevaluate the status quo, find new ways to reconnect with our audiences, and reimagine what an orchestra can be,” says SoNA Executive Director D. Riley Nicholson. “Through SoNA's reimagined season, our musical offerings will not just adapt to current obstacles, but also speak to the moment in time we find ourselves in.”
To begin this newly reimagined 2020-21 Season, SoNA is partnering with Mount Sequoyah Center in Fayetteville to present two safely distanced outdoor performances in October:
Cosmopolitan Strings on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 3pm, featuring string quartet music representing SoNA’s cosmopolitan musicians and diverse community. SoNA’s musician roster, like the broader Northwest Arkansas community, includes many artists who have near or distant roots. In just one hour, this program will take guests on a trip around the globe and give audience members a chance to get to know the musicians and their unique heritages and backgrounds. Led by SoNA violinist Miho Oda Sakon and featuring violinist Andrew Chu, violist Jesse Collett, and cellist Kari Caldwell, this fantastically varied program will include string quartet selections by Philip Glass, Scott Joplin, Aka Tonbo, Astor Piazzolla, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and other composers from around the world.
Colors of the Harp on Friday, Oct. 16, at 6pm, featuring SoNA harpist Alisa Coffey, a vital member of the symphony since 2012. For this concert, listeners will have the chance to hear Alisa’s individual voice in full splendor. She will share some of her favorite works for solo harp, displaying its versatility, range, and spectrum of musical colors. The program covers a wide scope of music history, showcasing Alisa's incredible virtuosity through the music of composers like Franz Liszt, Domenico Scarlatti, Benjamin Britten and Henriette Renié.
Both of these intimate outdoor performances are being held at Cottage Circle at Mount Sequoyah, where there will be circles marked on the ground in which guests may set up their own chairs or blankets to enjoy the concert. Tickets may be purchased through ticketing links here.
“For those who already know and love SoNA, this reimagined season is a chance to get to know our orchestra in a new and deeper way,” Nicholson says. “It's also a chance for us to creatively connect with our community and reach new audiences who might not feel comfortable at this time in the confines of a concert hall.”
SoNA musicians will begin releasing Solos from Home, featuring opportunities for each artist to record a short solo of their choosing to be shared on social media. The goal is to release a new solo each week, starting with SoNA concertmaster Winona Fifield (violin) in early to mid-October. The solos will give listeners a chance to learn more about the individual personalities of SoNA, as each musician will provide insights on their musical choices.
Over the holidays, the SoNA Singers will make special virtual appearances with recordings of festive tunes. Performing under the direction of Terry Hicks, one of Arkansas’ most respected choral conductors, SoNA Singers is an auditioned group of choral singers from throughout the Northwest Arkansas region. In lieu of the regular annual SoNA Christmas concert, this year SoNA will be releasing weekly virtual performances throughout the month of December to be posted online and shared via social media.
SoNA is also forging other new partnerships this season, including an initiative with the Momentary in Bentonville for a co-presented virtual concert later this fall featuring a 20-piece string orchestra, to be broadcasted online from the Momentary’s Fermentation Hall, a state-of-the-art black box theater with superb acoustics. SoNA and the Momentary will peer through the lens of time – looking both to our musical past and future to find new meaning, peace, and groundedness despite our disrupted times. Further details will be announced soon.
In addition, SoNA will be producing full-orchestra digital events exploring both classical and contemporary voices. At present, plans for the season include two such virtual concerts to be posted online and shared across SoNA’s email and social media channels. The first, to be released in early November, will present a classical program paired with visual artistry, complementing and adding depth to the musical experience.
The second full-orchestra virtual concert is planned for a Spring 2021 release, featuring a contemporary program native to the digital realm. For this performance, SoNA will be working with composer Ray Lustig on his piece Latency Canons, a work that is meant expressly for the digital space and that uses the latency inherent in digital communication platforms for musical effects. Connecting with the current moment, Latency Canons takes the unintended and artfully reframes it into musical splendor. Both virtual concerts will be performed under the direction of SoNA Music Director Paul Haas, with additional details to be announced at a later date.
And all of this is just a starting point for the newly reimagined season! SoNA leaders are also exploring possibilities for even more artistic experiences, including additional virtual events, outdoor concerts throughout NWA, and possibly socially distant concerts at Walton Arts Center if conditions allow. So, stay tuned, because this season will be a great way to connect with SoNA like never before. For all the most up-to-date information, future announcements and event details, follow SoNA on social media or visit sonamusic.org.