On Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 8PM, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) kicks off its first performance of the new year with New Year, New World—a one-night-only ProMedica Masterworks Series performance at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Peristyle Theater. Multiple Grammy Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta and world-renowned soprano Janinah Burnett come to Toledo to perform with the TSO on this program featuring Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Spirituals for Orchestra, Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and Antonín Dvo?ák’s Symphony from the New World. In-person and livestreaming tickets are available and can be purchased online at toledosymphony.com, by calling 419.246.8000, or stopping by the TAPA Box Office in person at 1838 Parkwood Ave.
“I am thrilled to begin our 2022 concerts with JoAnn Falletta,” says Zak Vassar, the TSO’s President & CEO. “I have followed her career for years and can’t wait for her to take the helm of our wonderful orchestra. For this concert, Ms. Falletta is matched with a fantastic guest artist and repertoire. We last worked with Janinah Burnett in a revelatory concert at St. Martin de Porres. She will do very well in the Barber songs. Likewise, I think that the warmth and energy of Dvo?ák’s Ninth Symphony is a perfect way to begin the year.”
Hailed as “one of the finest conductors of her generation,” by the New York Times, multiple Grammy Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta returns to Toledo for the first time since 1987 to conduct the TSO’s first concert of 2022. Falletta currently serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and has conducted many of the finest orchestras in North America—including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and more—as well as prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South America. Falletta has studied under multiple conducting greats, including Leonard Bernstein, Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling, and Semyon Bychkov. She received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes School of Music and her masters and doctorate degrees from The Juilliard School. With a discography of over 120 titles, Falletta is a leading recording artist for Naxos.
Janinah Burnett, daughter of legendary jazz drummer Carl Burnett found her musical talent and was inspired to pursue an artistic career at an early age. While studying vocal jazz music at Spelman College, she participated in a host of private events and engagements, including singing for Margaret Thatcher, several performances with the Atlanta Symphony, singing with the great Ray Charles, and at a private birthday party celebration for Oprah Winfrey at the home of Maya Angelou to name a few. Burnett went on to continue her musical studies at the Eastman School of Music where she received a master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Literature. Following graduation, Burnett has performed professionally on Broadway, the Tony Awards, the Metropolitan Opera, and more.
The program on Saturday evening opens with the TSO premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's Three Spirituals for Orchestra, paying tribute to the great American composer’s 80th birthday with this work that was recorded ten years ago by JoAnn Falletta, guest conductor on the program. Soprano Janinah Burnett will make her Peristyle debut singing Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the program will conclude with Dvo?ák Symphony from the New World, a symphonic masterpiece inspired by African American and Native American melodies.
“We have some truly delightful performances coming in the new year, and our opening concert of 2022 featuring Antonín Dvo?ák’s Symphony from the New World is one of them,” says Alain Trudel, TSO Music Director. “Together with Adolphus Hailstork's Three Spirituals for Orchestra and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, this program highlights the richness of America’s musical legacy.”
HOW TO ATTEND:
What: New Year, New World
When: Saturday, January 15, 2022
Where: Peristyle Theater, 2445 Monroe Street, Toledo
Cost: Tickets begin at $22
More info: Visit toledosymphony.com, stop by the TAPA Box Office located at 1838 Parkwood Avenue, or call 419.246.8000, Monday-Friday, 9-5 PM.
For more information about New Year, New World, please contact Vanessa Gardner, Director of Marketing & Communications at vgardner@artstoledo.com.
ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all.
Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs sixty-nine professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer, as well as numerous extra players annually as repertoire demands.
On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a new non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. This partnership promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.
The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.
