By René Lopez, Chandler City Council
Chandler is a place that celebrates and values art and culture. Our performing arts center, art galleries, multicultural festivals and new Chandler Museum all attest to a level of cultural engagement and community vitality that can be enjoyed by all ages.
For nearly three decades, one of the cornerstones of our arts and culture community has been the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, a dedicated group of skilled musicians who share the joy of music through free concerts. I encourage everyone to treat themselves, their families and friends to one or more of these remaining Chandler Symphony Orchestra performances of the season at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, the Symphony will present “Classic Superheroes,” a collection of some of the most beautiful works composed in celebration of heroic figures of history and classic literature. The concert will include Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture,” Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” the first movement of “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner’s “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” from “Götterdämmerung,” Borodin's “Polovtsian Dances” from “Prince Igor” and the romantic melody of Khachaturian’s “Adagio from Spartacus.”
“Romance Near and Far” is the theme of the Symphony’s performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24. It features the majestic “Acadia Fanfare” by William White, Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra, Op. 48, and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 and Slavonic Dances No. 2 and No. 8.
The final concert of the season, “Peace and Harmony,” will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 5 at the Center for the Arts. Aaron Copeland’s quintessential American composition “Fanfare for the Common Man” will set the tone of the afternoon’s performance, which also will include Mexican composer Jose Pablo Moncayo’s “Huapango,” English composer George Butterworth’s “A Shropshire Lad,” Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ “Violin Concerto” and African American composer William Grant Still's Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American.”
Select members of the Chandler Symphony Orchestra also perform several times throughout the year as a smaller ensemble. Two concerts in the Chandler Chamber Music Series remain this spring; Saturday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, April 13. Both performances are at 3:30 p.m. at the Chandler Community Center, 125 E. Commonwealth Ave. As with the Symphony, the performances are offered free of charge, however, donations are accepted and remain vital to the organization’s success.
For more information, visit chandlersymphony.com.