2022 Season: Tis the Seasons

Long before we sang about a “Winter Wonderland”, or belted out how much we love “Paris in the Springtime”, classical composers have drawn inspiration from the seasons for hundreds of years. Driven by the many sights and sounds, combined with a plethora of conjured emotions brought on by each season, composers never fell short of inspiration for new material.

Our 2022 season, ‘Tis the Seasons, will explore many familiar classics—and quite a few new works—greatly influenced by the many different moods of our four seasons. Kicking off our season of seasons, we’re hitting the beach with the laid-back sand and surf of summer in our Summer Gala. Grab your pumpkins and cider for our next concert, Autumn Festival. This performance will feature the winning piece from our first annual Composition Contest!

Once the heat from August sets in, most of us just wish for the crisp, cool air of a winter’s day. We’ll be sure to crank the AC for some snowy favorites in Winter Daydreams. To close our 2022 season, we’ll set the stage for a reawakening. Our Spring Finale will fill our audience with the blossoming hope of good things to come.

Long overdue, we are excited to once again present a full concert series this summer. We look forward to performing such an incredible array of fantastic works with an even more incredible group of musicians and special guests!

All performances will be at:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 9th Ave (at 28th Street)
Chelsea, NYC 10001

Grab your swimsuit and put on your sunscreen, kicking off our 2022 season is our Summer Gala! Celebrating the fun and excitement of summer, we have a program full of wonderful sensations of the season.

Originally written with outdoor festivals in mind, we open our fundraising gala with 'Summer Dances' by Brian Balmages. Then we take a glorious hike through the Vienna woods with Strauss Jr. before assistant conductor, Zach Nicely, takes the podium with a fantastic march by Sousa. Our illustrious concertmaster, Audrey Hayes, then takes center stage leading the Litha strings in Vivaldi's infamous Concerto for Violin in G minor, Op. 8, No. 2 'Summer'.

After a brief intermission, we'll welcome guest conductor Henco Espag to take us along through William Grant Still's orchestration of Florence Price's 'Dances in the Canebrakes'. Afterward, let's hit the beach where we'll all hear some Good Vibrations with Calvin Custer's 'Beach Boys Medley' before powerhouse soprano, Jessica Montgomery, sings Gershwin's classic 'Summertime'. Finally, to add even more to the excitement of summer, we close out our Summer Gala with Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén's bright and cheerful 'Midsommarvaka', Op. 19.

BRIAN BALMAGES   Summer Dances
sponsored by Takemi Ueno Charitable Fund
JOHANN STRAUSS II   G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald, Op. 325 (In the Vienna Woods)
sponsored by Eugene Chen
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA   Liberty Bell March
Zach Nicely, assistant conductor
ANTONIO VIVALDI   Concerto in G minor, Op. 8, No. 2 ‘Summer’
Audrey Hayes, violin
sponsored by Thomas Lai

FLORENCE PRICE   Dances in the Canebrakes
orchestrated by WILLIAM GRANT STILL
Henco Espag, guest conductor
CALVIN CUSTER (arr.)   Beach Boys Medley
Henco Espag, guest conductor
GEORGE GERSHWIN   Summertime
Jessica Montgomery, soprano
sponsored by Grace Mudd
HUGO ALFVÉN Midsommarvaka, Op. 19 ‘Swedish Rhapsody No. 1’

Kicking off our summer season is our annual fundraising gala. This performance helps us raise the necessary funds to continue our programming for the summer.

Our Summer Gala will feature a fantastically curated silent auction. We are excited to be partnering with many of our community neighbors and friends providing the incredible items and experiences.

VIP ticket holders will get a first-look preview of our auction packages a week before the gala. Deadline to purchase VIP tickets is Thursday, June 23.

General Admission pre-sale ends Friday, June 24. GA tickets will be available at the door for $30.

Warm and welcoming one minute, chilly and foreboding the next. Our second concert, Autumn Festival, will explore the many moods of this gorgeous season. For this performance, we're inviting guest conductor Alex Wen to the podium to lead us through Edvard Grieg's brilliant and festive overture 'Im Herbst' (In Autumn), Op. 11.

This year, we invited composers from all over the world to submit their works in our first annual Composition Contest! We received so many incredible submissions from as far away as Chile, India, and Japan.

Alex Wen will conduct the World Premiere of 'Athabasca' by Joel Toews—the winner of our first annual Composition Contest!

Following our winning composer's piece, we will perform Eric Whitacre's emotionally powerful 'October'—originally written for symphonic band, Whitacre skillfully arranged this work for full orchestra. After a brief intermission, we close our concert with the first of Brahms' symphonies, Op. 68.

EDVARD GRIEG Im Herbst, Op. 11
Alex Wen, conductor
JOEL TOEWS Athabasca
First Annual Composition Contest Winning Piece!
Alex Wen, conductor
ERIC WHITACRE October
sponsored by Nick Johnson

JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 1, Op. 68

Deadline for pre-sale tickets is Friday, July 15th.

Don't let the coldness of winter get you down—these composers sure didn't! On the contrary, they saw the wondrous beauty of winter and used the magic of this season as ample inspiration. To begin our Winter Daydreams, guest conductor Conrad Chu takes us on a dance with Rimsky-Korsakov in his 'Snow Maiden Suite' before assistant conductor Zach Nicely takes the reigns in 'Sleigh Ride' by Delius.

Artistic director Eric Hayslett joins us at the podium to lead us through a wintery waltz with the 'Skater's Waltz' by Waldteufel before we take a short intermission. To finish our snow-covered concert, we will perform Tchaikovsky's ode to this breathtaking season, his Symphony No. 1, Op. 13, 'Winter Daydreams'.

NIKOLAY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV   Snow Maiden Suite
Conrad Chu, guest conductor
sponsored by Eugene Chen
FREDERICK DELIUS   Sleigh Ride
Zach Nicely, assistant conductor
sponsored by Mary Eileen McNamee
ÉMILE WALDTEUFEL   Les patineurs, Op.183 'Skater's Waltz'

PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY   Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 'Winter Daydreams'

Deadline for pre-sale tickets is Friday, August 5th.

Rise and shine, and get ready to bloom—these spring-themed works in our Spring Finale are sure to conjure up thoughts of new beginnings and endless possibilities. Our guest conductor, Conrad Chu, joins us again for Sibelius' flowing and lyrical 'Spring Song'. With its memorable themes and warm tones, Aaron Copland's masterpiece 'Appalachian Spring Suite' closes out the first half.

Contemporary composer Max Richter made waves with his 'The Four Seasons Recomposed', his interpretation of how he sees Vivaldi in the 21st century. Concertmaster and soloist Audrey Hayes takes the stage for Richter's version of 'Spring'. Closing out our 2022 season is a monumental work by Ottorino Respighi. From glittering woodwinds to a powerful conclusion, 'Pini di Roma' (Pines of Rome) ultimately evokes the growth and rebirth of spring.

JEAN SIBELIUS   Spring Song, Op. 16 'Vårsång'
Conrad Chu, guest conductor
sponsored by Genevieve Giamarino
AARON COPLAND   Appalachian Spring Suite
sponsored by Eugene Chen

MAX RICHTER   The Four Seasons Recomposed: 'Spring'
Audrey Hayes, violin
OTTORINO RESPIGHI   Pini di Roma
sponsored by Murray Mackinnon

Deadline for pre-sale tickets is Friday, August 26th.

Litha Symphony Orchestra
Artistic Director Eric Hayslett

All performances at:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 9th Ave (at 28th St) in Chelsea

Artists, dates, and programs subject to change.
Website & graphic design by Nick Johnson