Classical
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Live
Since its birth in the late 1930s, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has earned its place as one of the most renowned orchestras in the nation. With over 150 live shows annually, each performance delivers depth and mastery brought forth by the ASO's renowned Maestros and award-winning guest artists. The 2022-2023 season marks the 78th for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and guests can expect a historic and exciting year for classical music in Atlanta. In 2022, the Symphony welcomed its fifth-ever Music Director, Nathalie Stutzmann. Described as "a consummate rock star on the podium" by ArtsATL, Maestro Stutzmann is expected to usher in a new era of musical culture for the ASO and Atlanta as a whole. Stutzmann began her first season featuring 13 living composers, including Hilary Purrington, Tyshawn Sorey and Joel Thompson. In her first season, Stutzmann is also leading eight programs featuring the classical masters, including Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony," Brahms' "Third Symphony" and a two-week Bach celebration culminating in Bach's "St. Matthew Passion." For fans of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's returning and pop culture series, you won't want to miss highlights like the hit program Star Wars and More: The Music of John Williams or performances of Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy soundtrack with a unique HD video multimedia experience.
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Concert
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was originally founded by Anne Grace O'Callaghan in 1939 as the In-and-About High School Atlanta Symphony. As Supervisor of Music for Atlanta high schools, O'Callaghan started the passion project by recruiting the best high school players across the region. By 1943, Chicago Conductor Henry Sopkin had joined the ranks to lead the young musicians. The talented group's performances quickly drew the interest of patrons and investors, and by 1945 the Atlanta Music Club had offered Sopkin an eight-month contract to develop the Atlanta Youth Symphony. Finally, in 1947, the Youth Symphony dropped the "Youth" moniker and played their first concert as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra -- the start of decades to come as a world-renowned institution of classical music. Since then, ASO has traveled nationwide and internationally, been hosted by U.S. Presidents and won 27 Grammy Awards as of 2022 in Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Choral Performance, and Best Opera Performance categories.
My friend and I went to see the concert and it was a wonderful experience. The orchestra is insanely talented especially the flute section and I am looking forward to going to more concerts in the future!
It was a fantastic show at Ameris Amphitheater. The venue was comfortable.
We love this performance and try to see it each year. Much prefer the venue in Alpharetta, GA vs. Peachtree City, GA (due to our home location). I would recommend this show to anyone of any age. A real treat!
It was awesome! The entire experience was fantastic and the orchestra was phenomenal!!
Being able to experience the ASO in person, to hear the quality, professionalism, and dedication to their craft was amazing. You can tell they enjoy what they do and having fun doing it. It was a wonderful memory to share with my family.
Poor accessibility. Very few ramps. Need to use many steps
Great night…music outstanding. Conductor great. 11 year old grandson loved it! Arena helpers excellent. Medium priced covered seating excellent. Handicapped parking and ride to the car excellent Pricing of food a little crazy…only negative. Also did not realize characters left before intermission. We only got a few pictures prior. We will plan accordingly next time.
The ASO is a world class orchestra - I'm delighted to see it listed in the top 10 of USA orchestras. The performance of Rite of Spring was riveting from the opening notes of the beautifully executed opening bassoon solo to the grand finale. As always, the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections graced us with brilliant solo and ensemble playing and the strings with their stunning precision and silken sound. The Leshnoff 'Sacrifice of Isaac' was interesting new work performed with clarity and precision by the chorus, Orchestra, and soloists - well worth hearing again. It was a great to have Maestro Spano on the podium again.
This concert of The Atlanta Symphony sounded terrific under Robert Spano and it was so nice to hear the orchestra play so well once again. In my opinion, recent concerts under the new music director have been disappointing and have not been up to the Grammy winning high standard of this fine orchestra.
Atlanta has a fine symphony orchestra, and Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center is their best venue. Small enough to be intimate, big enough for that We Were There feeling. Acoustics that let you hear the pages turn, whether you’re down front or all the way up in the back. As prelude to the piano concerto, we heard Blue Cathedral and Picture Studies, two deservedly well-known and loved contemporary compositions, our beloved (and retired) Robert Spano conducting for the joy of it. And how he enjoyed himself. The crowd of us burst with applause the instant he appeared. (The ASO typically has the warmest and most enthusiastic crowds in town, but the May 9th crowd was really something special. I am proud of our Atlanta every day, but that night I wanted to applaud everyone there.) Of course it was the Rachmaninov we came for. Garrick Ohlsson was warmly welcomed to the Steinway for one of the most difficult piano concertos ever composed, but I doubt most of us had a thorough notion what we were in for from the maestro. What can I say? Thinking of it two weeks later is still bringing me to tears. Whenever you may, wherever you may, whatever it takes, go to hear and see Ohlsson. When the music stopped, we went beserk, shouting and crying, and clapping our hands red. We called him back three times. After all that musical intensity and effort in the concerto, he sat again and gave us the Chopin nocturne. What a performance, what a night, what a crowd. Atlanta, this is your symphony orchestra. Step away from the mundane. Come join the magic feast.
