A Message from Our Music Director…

Welcome to the LSO's 2011-2012 season, Champions & Heroes. We are delighted to serve our community through quality classical music by continuing to highlight the gems of the orchestral repertoire, while featuring our wonderfully talented local soloists and outstanding orchestra members.

We are extremely proud to open our season to commemorate the ten year anniversary of September 11th. We will honor our national heroes through some of the most powerful and emotional American music of the 20th century by featuring Barber's Adagio for Strings, Howard Hanson's The Requiem and William Shuman's A Prayer in Time of War. We will conclude with Copland's epic Lincoln Portrait with special guest narration by Dr. Marc Boensel, retired member of the US Naval Academy and founder of the Annapolis Wind Symphony.

Featuring one of our most celebrated local pianists, William Bloomquist will join forces with members of the LSO to provide you with our first LSO Chamber Concert in an afternoon of enchanting music, accompanied by light refreshments and hors'doeuvres. Please contact us for more information and ticket pricing.

Guest conductor Taras Krysa from the University of Las Vegas will lead the LSO in an array of music inspired by the champions of French composition such as Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2 and Debussy's Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun. We are also excited to feature solo violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv in Barber's Violin Concerto. This concert is filled with mystifying orchestral colors and imagery—an afternoon not to be missed!

Do you find yourself needing some spring rejuvenation after the long winter slumber? Come raise your glass and wake-up your taste buds as you stroll through the gardens and make a toast to the LSO Gala during our 2nd annual fundraising event at Homestead Gardens (Davidsonville) on Tuesday, March at 6:00pm. You will also have the chance to hear our musicians perform a variety of fun, yet intimate chamber music—an evening not to be missed!

Bring your friends and family as the LSO continues our season, joined by our Rising Stars! This concert will feature our local champions from the annual Anne Arundel Music Teachers Association piano competition, along with Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and Stravinsky's vibrant Firebird Suite—a concert appropriate for all ages!

Our season closes with Tchaikovsky's exuberant and triumphant Symphony No. 5--one of the most heroic works of all time. This concert will also feature Rossini's Overture to La gazza ladra (the Thieving Magpie), a melodramatic opera filled with tragedy and despair. Be sure to join us in this celebrated grand finale!

As you continue to experience the LSO, please take a moment to realize how you may help us achieve greater recognition and stability within our community. In addition to attending our subscription concerts, you can help make this season a greater success by bringing our orchestra to heightened attention. If you are interested in serving as a volunteer, we would welcome your help by joining our volunteer program, "Friends of the LSO."

I would like to thank our sponsors, donors, and most certainly, our audience members for your support as we continue to provide you with unique orchestral experiences. Please join us as we celebrate our new season with Champions & Heroes. We look forward to sharing this music with you.

Best wishes,

Anna Binneweg

Music Director/Conductor