News & Updates

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - Trombonist Ava Ordman is a pioneer’s pioneer. At age 19, still an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, she won the principal trombone position with the Grand Rapids Symphony in 1973 in an era when fewer women held principal positions in American orchestras and nearly none played brass instruments. Over 24 seasons through 1997, Ordman was a frequent soloist, performing Donald Erb’s Concerto for Trombone with the Grand Rapids Symphony and... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - ‘Tis the season for Russian music. For several weeks now, the snow and ice that has fallen had made West Michigan feel less like the Great Lake State and more like the Russian steppes. Mother Nature demands we embrace it, and so we shall. Music Director Marcelo Lehninger led the Grand Rapids Symphony and Symphony Chorus in Russian music to warm an American heart with two familiar works by Tchaikovsky and two largely unknown to orchestral audiences. ... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - DeVos Performance Hall, since it opened in 1980s, has seen many great performances by the Grand Rapids Symphony . Friday’s concert featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet under Music Director Marcelo Lehninger surely will go down in history as one of its very best. Thibaudet, Lehninger and the Grand Rapids Symphony – plus a musical saw – together conquered Aram Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, a crowd pleasing, folk-flavored work that’s... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - John Pizzarelli does a wicked Paul McCartney impression from the mannerisms and cadence to the Liverpool accent. “If you’re going to do Paul McCartney, you’ve got to do Paul McCartney,” Pizzarelli explains. As good as it is, the singer and guitarist does an even better job playing McCartney’s music. The Grand Rapids Pops opened its 2018-19 Fox Motors Pops on Friday, Sept. 21, with “McCartney and More” ... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - What does one say about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony? It’s one of the greatest achievements, not simply of classical music, but of all of Western civilization. The music, some of Beethoven’s best, stands on its own merits. The message that all of humanity is a brotherhood elevates it to a whole new level. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Leonard Bernstein led a performance on Christmas Day in East Berlin that may be the most... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - In symphony orchestra concerts, it’s usually the soloists and conductors who get the lion’s share of the glory. The virtuoso soloists are the aerialists, working without a net, flying high above the ground. The conductors are the ringmasters running the show and guiding the audience through the performance. But this week, with Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben , all the musicians of the Grand Rapids Symphony were putting their heads into... Read More

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - Classical music is serious stuff. Bach, Beethoven and the rest of the boys tackled such matters as salvation of the soul and brotherhood of mankind in their music. Mahler, when he composed his symphonies, set out to compose an entire world. Mahler apparently had a side gig as well, writing jingles to sell blue jeans. If that never popped up in college music appreciate class, you’ll just have to take Second City’s word for it. Mind you, no one... Read More