News & Updates

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - As a composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was, and is, without equal. He was a Russian nationalist as well as an internationalist. His music sets scenes that are descriptive and evocative. His melodies are lush, sweeping and memorable. Musicians admire his music. Audiences love it. The genius that was Tchaikovsky was on full display at the Grand Rapids Symphony on Friday, October 4, in DeVos Performance Hall. In part because the entire program was devoted to the musi... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - Gustav Mahler wrestled with the big questions, and then he set them to music. To create a symphony, for the late Romantic composer, was to create a world. When conductor Bruno Walter visited Mahler in 1896 at his summer retreat in the Alps, the younger man paused to admire the beautiful vista. Mahler told Walter he needn’t bother. “You don't have to look at that,” Mahler said. “I've already composed it.” Mahler was referring t... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - It’s almost impossible to believe how old Gustav Holst’s The Planets is. The symphonic suite sounds fresh from the cinema and a killer opening weekend for the latest sci-fi blockbuster. In fact, the English composer began work on the seven-movement work in 1914 at the end of the horse-and-buggy era. The Planets only sounds like the soundtrack for a five-year mission to boldly go where no man has gone before because film composers have drawn inspiration f... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - The music of Tchaikovsky is beloved by many. For an audience of classical music aficionados, an evening of Tchaikovsky needs little explanation. But Grand Rapids Symphony Music Director Marcelo Lehninger provided one anyway. “He’s one of my favorite composers. I love his music,” Lehninger said on Friday in DeVos Performance Hall. But the Brazilian-born conductor had more to say on the subject. “One of the things I love about this orchestra... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - Forty-five musicians in all were on stage, never more than 27 at a time, but it hardly mattered. No soloist was in front of the Grand Rapids Symphony on Friday evening at St. Cecilia Music Center, though no one noticed. It was an uncommon concert, a little more chamber music, a little less orchestral, but the result was magnificent just the same under Music Director Marcelo Lehninger. Grand Rapids Symphony returned the elegant splendor of Royce Auditoriu... Read More