9/9/08: Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra Reduces Subscription Prices
Responding to curtailed consumer spending in the current weak economy, the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra has reduced subscriptions for its two remaining orchestral events this season from $40 to $35.
Single tickets to the concerts — in March and May 2009 — would total $45. A subscriber can attend both concerts for a total $35.
“We know that families are rethinking a lot of their spending plans right now,” noted LSO executive director Rick Piester. “And we also know that people are looking for high value, particularly for their entertainment dollar. We hope that our reduced subscription charge will make attending at our concerts even more attractive.”
People who subscribe will also have a chance to buy reduced-price tickets to two special non-orchestral events on the LSO calendar. Tickets for each event will sell for $75, but the tickets will be reduced to $65 if they are bought at the same time as a subscription.
The orchestra kicked off its 25th performance season this past weekend with “The Great American Concert” featuring NASA astronaut and Lynchburg native Leland Melvin.
On March 21, 2009, Lynchburg native Elizabeth Coulter Vonderheide, a product of the city schools’ strings program who is now taking her place as a rising solo violinist as well as an orchestral player, will join the LSO at 8 PM for a concert of favorite Baroque era music featuring the LSO string section. Vonderheide will be featured in a performance of J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor. Also on the program will be the Corelli Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 8, which will feature three longtime LSO members — concertmaster Ellen Habitzruther, principal second violinist Andrea Albers, and principal cellist Peter Worford. The Pachelbel Canon in D, and a Concerto Grosso by Geminiani will round out the program, which the orchestra has named “Celebrate Strings!”
And on May 10 – Mother’s Day — the orchestra and international pianist Leon Bates will team up for “Brahms for Moms,” a dinner-concert combination that features a special pre- or post-concert Mother’s Day meal at some favorite Lynchburg restaurants. Diners who show concert tickets or a concert program will receive a discount on the meal. Major works scheduled for the 4 PM concert will include the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, and the composer’s Symphony No. 4 in E minor. This concert, at E.C. Glass Auditorium, will begin at 4 PM. The Friends of the Lynchburg Symphony orchestra are planning a special mother-daughter tea for the previous weekend.
The first of the two special events will be a Christmas production by two top Lynchburg-based singers, one from the world of opera and one from popular music. Marcia Jones Thom and Paddy Dougherty will collaborate on “Christmas and Candlelight,” an evening of favorite Yuletide music as a benefit for the LSO. This performance is scheduled for 7:30 PM on Tuesday, December 23, at Oakwood Country Club.
The second special event is scheduled for May 7 at 7:30 PM, when pianist Bates will present “American Originals,” a journey through the music of American composers from different eras, styles and backgrounds — ragtime to new age, classical to jazz — to provide a new appreciation for a musical culture that is uniquely American.
Seating will be limited for both of the special events.