Past Performances

Joseph Young, Music Director

It’s my great pleasure to welcome you to Berkeley Symphony’s 51st season! Our milestone 50th year marked a return to joy — now, as we embark on our next chapter, we invite you to be an important part of how we reinterpret classics and rejoice in new works. Innovative concerts, sweeping scores, and vital voices: our 51st season promises a thrilling ride, one that forwards our mission of reimagining classics while also presenting them alongside fresh orchestral pieces that are as moving as they are relevant. By this work, Berkeley Symphony highlights an important throughline, revealing how the beloved canon influences and engages our gifted contemporary artists. Bridging unique styles, I call this season “Find Your Frequency.” Each of the season’s three concerts offer music as a form of self-expression, a means for creating connections, and a vehicle for sharing our stories with one another. Experience Tchaikovsky’s mental agitation and turmoil as captured in the notes of the Fifth Symphony, or Elgar’s intense dedication and commitment to his friends, immortalized in each of the Enigma Variations. I’m also particularly excited to share world premieres from Brian Raphael Nabors and Xi Wang, whose groundbreaking works introduce us to the orchestral world’s next generation of paramount talent. Music is an invitation: it offers us the distinct opportunity to answer its call, come together, and delight in its virtue. At Berkeley Symphony, we endeavor to share this invitation — and its gift — far and wide. Thank you for your support, and we hope you’ll join us for another standout season.