♦ PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
♦ Brahms and Schumann
Heinz Hall
November 1, 7:30PM
November 2, 7:30PM
November 3, 2:30PM
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 2
Notes: Swiss conductor (and fashion model) Lorenzo Viotti joins charismatic violin virtuoso Ray Chen for Brahms’ formidable, technically challenging masterwork that brings together tender lyricism, grand romanticism, and soulful Hungarian melodies. Schumann’s Second Symphony is a work of unparalleled richness and depth.
♦ Strauss’ Alpine Symphony
Heinz Hall
November 15, 7:30PM
November 17, 2:30PM
HAMISH MACCUNN: The Land of the Mountain and the Flood [PSO Premiere]
RAUTAVAARA: Concerto for Flute, “Dances with the Winds” [PSO Premiere]
STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony
Notes: Strauss’ Alpine Symphony summons an orchestra of well over 100 musicians to depict the majesty of nature in spellbinding relief. Through rocky summits, waterfalls, a hunting party, a violent storm, and a triumphal return, Strauss unleashes the full potential of symphonic writing in his final tone poem. Lorna McGhee gives the Pittsburgh premiere of this Rautavaara concerto, which evokes dark and ethereal Scandinavian landscapes, highlighting a program filled with themes of the natural world.
♦ Strauss and Puccini
Heinz Hall
November 29, 7:30PM
December 1, 2:30PM
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 3
HENRI TOMASI: Concerto for Alto Saxophone [PSO Premiere]
PUCCINI: Anniversary Celebration Highlights
STRAUSS FAMILY: Viennese Favorite
Notes: Enjoy a delightful musical feast this Thanksgiving weekend! Music Director Manfred Honeck leads a lighthearted celebration of charming polkas and popular waltzes from his hometown of Vienna. Schubert’s Third Symphony and the PSO debut of sax virtuoso Steven Banks add to the elation as the program sings with a heart-on-sleeve celebration of Puccini’s greatest opera hits in this annual program of audience favorites.
♦ CITY THEATRE
♦ The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley
1300 Bingham Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
November 30 – Decenber 22 (Times Vary)
Notes: The Darcys and Bennets return to City Theatre in a delightful companion piece to last season’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. As the events of Miss Bennett unfold upstairs, the house staff below have their own holiday scandals as Mr. Wickham — the uninvited husband of Lydia and sworn enemy of Mr. Darcy–appears in the middle of the night. The Wickhams is a charming holiday tale that celebrates forgiving and forthrightness in the season of giving.
♦ PITTSBURGH CAMERATA
♦ Concert
Shadyside Presbyterian Church
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♦ BACH CHOIR OF PITTSBURGH
♦ Concert
Eastminster Presbyterian Church
250 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206
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♦ PITTSBURGH OPERA
♦ CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/ PAGLIACCI
Benedum Center
November 9, 8:00PM
November 12, 7:00PM
November 15, 7:30PM
November 17, 2:00PM
Notes: An adulterous double feature
Jealousy, two-timing, and revenge unite the back-to-back tragedies of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Possessiveness, machismo, and rage fuel their bloody conclusions. Cavalleria Rusticana: On Easter Sunday, Alfio discovers his wife Lola has rekindled her old romance with Turiddu. Pagliacci: Just before a performance of his traveling circus troupe, clown Canio discovers the infidelity of his wife Nedda. Join us for this back-to-back double feature of love and hate—the first time Pittsburgh Opera has performed these two operas together since 1996!
♦ PITTSBURGH CONCERT CHORALE
♦ Festival of Choirs
Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland
November 3, 4:00PM
Notes: Join the PCC and area high schools in this special celebration of choral music! Enjoy a wide variety of choral repertoire as each choir presents an individual set. The grand finale brings all the singers on stage together to perform the world premiere of this year’s Carol and Robert Woody Choral Commission work. Our composer this year is nationally-acclaimed Dan Forrest.
♦ PNC POPS
♦ Chicago: The Musical in Concert
Heinz Hall
November 8, 7:30PM
November 9, 7:30PM
November 10, 2:30PM
Notes: After 25 years, Chicago is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a sensational tale of sin, corruption, and all that jazz with a ripped-from-the-headlines story about fame and scandal, with one show-stopping song after another
♦ PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE
♦ Production
Benedum Center
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♦ PITTSBURGH SPEAKERS SERIES
♦ Annette Gordon-Reed
Heinz Hall
November 11, 8:00pm
Renowned for her groundbreaking work on the life of Thomas Jefferson, Annette Gordon-Reed is a professor of history at Harvard University, professor of law at Harvard Law School, and the award-winning author of six books.
Gordon-Reed first rose to prominence when she pushed scholars and the public to take Black people’s versions of history seriously, changing the scholarship on Thomas Jefferson regarding his relationship with Sally Hemings and her children. She was the first Black person to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History, was honored with the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and 15 other prizes for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.
In 2010, she received the National Humanities Medal and a MacArthur “Genius Award.” Her book, Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination, presents a provocative character study of Jefferson which challenges much of the scholarly status quo on his portrayal throughout history.
Gordon-Reed is one of the integral voices who helped Juneteenth, a day of remembrance of the end of legalized slavery in her home state of Texas, to become a national holiday in 2021. Her New York Times bestselling book On Juneteenth is a powerful work of history that weaves together America’s past with personal memoir; it was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, TIME, and NPR. The New York Times calls Gordon-Reed “one of the most important American historians of our time.” Since 2018, she has served as a trustee of the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, NC. She was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019. Gordon-Reed was honored in 2022 to have a new elementary school named after her in her hometown of Conroe, Texas.