PRO ARTE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
ANNOUNCES ITS 2023-24 SEASON
46th Season to Feature Four Full Ensemble Concerts and
Four Salon Concerts
(Newton, MA- September 19, 2023) Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra’s 2023-24 season will showcase music from a wide range of composers and several artists making their Pro Arte debut during this the ensemble’s 46th season. For tickets and information about all concerts, visit www.proarte.org.
Mischa Santora, music director of the Boston Ballet, makes his Pro Arte debut, conducting the opening concert of the season, Classical Lines, on October 29th, 2023, The program includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550; Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, op. 3; and Jesse Montgomery’s Divided for Cello and Strings. The featured soloist is acclaimed cellist Tommy Mesa (tommymesa.com), making his first appearance with Pro Arte.
Pro Arte’s Conductor Emerita Gisèle Ben-Dor will lead the ensemble in All in the Family on January 28th, 2024. This concert of storytelling and puppetry is designed for listeners both young, and young at heart with Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals promising a musical menagerie of lions, elephants and kangaroos; Teresa Carreño’s Romanzeoriginally scored for orchestra and violin (in a new orchestration by Pro Arte principal cello Steve Laven); and Sergei Prokofiev’s classic musical tale, Peter and the Wolf.
Up next is The Unbroken Circle, on Sunday, April 7th, with Emmy Award-winning composer Jeff Beal conducting. The program includes Beal’s own compositions, Pollock Overture (from the film directed by and starring Ed Harris) and The Great Circle, Beal’s response to California’s tragic wildfires and mudslides in 2017-18. Also on the program are Respighi’s Gli Uccelli (The Birds) and Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, op. 11, featuring Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Michael Winter as the horn soloist, in his first concert with Pro Arte.
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director Adrian Slywotsky makes his Pro Arte debut, conducting Strings of Light on June 9th. This concert includes performances of Vivaldi’s Sinfonia for Strings No.2 in D Major; a new arrangement by Pro Arte cellist Leo Eguchi of Beethoven’s String Quartet no.1 in F Major op.18, no.1; Reena Esmail’s “Teen Murti,” and Pēteris Vasks’, Cello Concerto no.2, Adagio, with Steven Laven, cello.
The Salon Series concerts will all be held at The Allen Center for the Arts in West Newton. These intimate concerts by Pro Arte musicians in chamber groups provide audiences with an opportunity to hear a wide variety of music from across the ages in a relaxed and informal setting.
These concerts include:
Wednesday November 29 7pm – Holiday Brass Quintet,performed by Pro Arte’s brass players, with special guests
Sunday Feb 11 3pm – Conifer String Quartet (Lisa Goddard and Colin Davis violin; Anne Black, viola; Steven Laven, cello)
Sunday March 10 3pm – Wind quintet (featuring Pro Arte’s principal wind players Ann Bobo, Nancy Dimock, Ian Greitzer, Ron Haroutunian and Robert Marlatt)
Sunday May 19 3pm – Concertmaster Julia Cash and friends
About Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra
Pro Arte is a professional, musician-led cooperative chamber orchestra that shares its passion for music through exceptional performances that enrich, engage, and educate. The ensemble performs familiar and adventurous music in concert halls and welcoming community settings. Founded in 1978 by Harvard chaplain and visionary Larry Hill, Pro Arte is one of only four cooperative orchestras in the country. Unlike traditional orchestras, Pro Arte’s players, as well as the conductor, decide what music the Orchestra will perform and who the guest artists will be.
Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra is a member of the Newton Cultural Alliance.
Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra ensemble concerts
Sunday at 3pm October 29, April 7 and June 9 The Second Church in Newton, 60 Highland Street, West Newton MA.
Sunday January 28 3pm Newton City Hall War Memorial Auditorium, 1000 Commonwealth Ave., Newton
Salon Series concerts
Wednesday November 29 at 7pm, Sunday February 11, March 10 and May 3 at 3pm
All at The Allen Center for the Arts, 35 Webster Street in Newton MA.
Tickets and information for all concerts can be found at www.proarte.org
