The musicians of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra will be in the spotlight in the 2020-21 season, performing works that showcase the ensemble as a whole.
“I’m very proud of the musicians we have. I’m very proud of the work in progress that we have achieved,” TSO Music Director José Luis Gomez said Wednesday as he unveiled the season, his fourth, to an audience of orchestra subscribers.
“When I came here we were exploring lesser-known works. This year, we’re going through the always challenging Beethoven cycle. This next season, we are taking on some of the most ambitious works of the orchestral repertoire, such as Petrushka, Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra” and Strauss’s “Ein Heldenleben.” Our musicians are at the top of their game and the orchestra will shine.”
Gomez has programmed a host of showpieces next season including:
- Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 to open the season Sept. 25.
- Mozart’s final and most ambitious symphony, No. 41 (“Jupiter”), in C major on Nov. 6 and 8. On Nov. 21 and 22, the orchestra tackles Mozart’s great G minor Symphony No. 40.
- Strauss’ tone poem “Ein Heldenleben” (A Hero’s Life) on Dec. 4 and 6.
- An all-French program including works by Debussy, Ravel and Fauré Feb. 19 and 21, 2021. Gomez, who is in the middle of his third full season as TSO music director, said the music in the 2020-21 season showcases “the orchestra as an instrument that can deliver great music.”
“I think of it as a journey for me and the musicians,” he said. “For me, we are experiencing that growth and the development. And I think (we are) ready to showcase the orchestra in every single program that we play. I look forward to the audience to embrace their orchestra and that’s why each program has that message. ... By the end of the season I would love them to really feel that they are connected to the orchestra and how lucky we are to have an orchestra that is growing and is able to tackle this repertoire.”
Other 2020-21 season highlights:
- Phoenix Symphony Conductor Tito Muñoz will be at the podium when his concertmaster Steven Moeckel — who was once the TSO’s concertmaster — performs Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 2 on Oct. 16 and 18. Muñoz’s appearance comes about six months after Gomez leads the Phoenix Symphony in April in two performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Moeckel has a showpiece in that April concert, as well, with early 20th century composer William Walton’s Violin Concerto.
- The music of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” is the special Thanksgiving weekend concert Nov. 28 and 29. Each Thanksgiving weekend, the orchestra performs a family-friendly cine-concert centered on a blockbuster film; last year it was “E.T. The Extra
Terrestrial
- ” in concert.
- And the orchestra will celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday Dec. 19 and 20 — two days after the Dec. 17, 1770, date recorded for his baptism — with the composer’s grand choral symphony the Ninth. It comes on the heels of the orchestra performing a full season of Beethoven this season that includes all of his symphonies except No. 9, which the orchestra performed in April 2018.
