2011-2012 Concert Season

The Palo Alto Philharmonic presents its second annual preseason Concert of Baroque Music, with select soloists and small ensembles performing a delightful array of music from the 17th and 18th centuries. This year, the Baroque Concert, as well as our popular Chamber Music Series will take place at the Palo Alto First Baptist Church, while the Palo Alto Art Center is being renovated.

The Philharmonic hosts three brilliant soloists during its twenty-fourth season: pianist Péter Tóth, violinist David Felberg, and clarinetist Michael Corner. Our opening concert features Franz Liszt's Totentanz (Dance of the Dead) with Tóth, a three-time winner of the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, as soloist. This symphonic piece combines elements of Gregorian chant with a diabolic, percussive piano part.

Péter Tóth,
Pianist

David Felberg,
Violinist

Violinist Felberg returns to Palo Alto to perform the dazzling Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1, a work that demands virtuoso skills from the soloist. Mr. Felberg, concertmaster of the Santa Fe Symphony, possesses all the technique, emotional expressivity, and stamina needed to meet the challenges of this exciting work.

In the first concert of 2012 Michael Corner performs Mozart's beloved Concerto in A Major for Clarinet and Orchestra. This beautifully melodic work, was composed when the clarinet was a novel addition to the symphonic world. Mr. Corner is Principal Clarinet of Symphony Silicon Valley and held the same post in the former San Jose Symphony. He has performed widely across the United States and Europe.

Michael Corner,
Clarinettist

Thomas Shoebotham,
Conductor

Musical Director Thomas Shoebotham leads the orchestra in four famous symphonies this season. The opening concert presents Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique," a work that may well represent the epitome of the composer's inimitable Romantic style. In December the orchestra plays an enduring favorite, the "Unfinished" Symphony No. 8 by Franz Schubert. At the final concert of the season Mr. Shoebotham conducts the orchestra in Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, composed in 1937. Full of profound emotion and cutting irony, the symphony is notable for its highly energetic finale.

In addition to these concerti and symphonies, the season includes joyful overtures by Bernstein and Berlioz, as well as intriguing symphonic pieces by Hindemith, Strauss, and Vaughan Williams. We are also proud to present the world premiere of a commissioned work by our award-winning Composer-in-Residence, Lee Actor. The final performance of the season is our traditional Family Concert, an afternoon of classical selections chosen to appeal to young listeners.

We look forward to seeing YOU in the audience!

Lee Actor,
Composer