We are beyond thrilled to announce an in-person 2021-2022 full orchestral season!
QUO will offer four symphonic concerts. one chamber concert, and our annual Pride GayLa celebration in the 2021-2022 season: Alive with Spirit. This season features 7 soloists from our community, works by established LGBT composers, new works written for QUO, and of course traditional favorites of the orchestral rep. All concerts will feature in-person seating (subject to whatever restrictions apply), but each concert will additionally be simulcast. So whether it’s in-person or virtually, plan now to join us!
October 23, 2021 (The Triumph of the Human Spirit)
Our season opens on October 23, and the first piece QUO will perform as an ensemble since the pandemic began will be from Pulitzer-prize winning LGBT composer Jennifer Higdon: Fanfare Ritmico. We’ll then be joined by the “utterly ravishing” (Canada’s Arts Forum) Andrew Sords in the Korngold Violin Concerto. And though we missed celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday together, we’ll celebrate now and conclude with his Symphony No. 5.
December 18, 2021 (The Fate of Destiny)
This concert begins with Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed, by Adolphus Hailstork. Just in time for his 251st birthday, we present Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the “poised, alert musicianship” (Boston Globe) of guest Spencer Myer, QUO closes the year with Tchaikovsky, proving that LGBT representation is not a new thing: his Symphony No. 4.
January 22, 2022 (Earthly Rituals)
Our popular QUOtets chamber series returns with three QUO soloists: Vibraphonist Paul Robertson (a previous winner of QUO’s concerto competition) and clarinetists Fran Novak and Travis Fraser in Bruce Saylor‘s Rituals. Among other works to be performed: Stravinsky’s Suite for Small Orchestra and Kaija Saariaho’s Terra Memoria for Strings.
March 13, 2022 (Exquisite Engery)
QUO starts this concert with the world premiere of a commissioned piece highlighting the trans community. We’re joined by James Adler, a pianist who can “create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard” (Chicago Sun-Times) for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Then hold onto your seats for Mason Bates’ Alternative Energy, an energy symphony spanning four movements and hundreds of years.
May 7, 2022 (Grandiose Spirit)
In March 2020, our last rehearsal was a reading of Sibelius’ epic Symphony No. 2. That work provides a fitting conclusion the final concert of our traditional series this year. But also join us for LGBT composer Gilbert Galindo’s Hymn to the Sky, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Matthieu Cognet, “one of the most gifted musicians in the world today” (Philip Setzer, Emerson Quartet).
June 18, 2022 (Our annual GayLa: A Celebration of Beauty)
Our annual pride celebration has our usual mix of serious and popular works. It also gives us the opportunity to collaborate with BALAM Dance Theatre, who joins us in Florence Price‘s The Oak (Ms. Price is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer). Our serious side also includes Libby Larsen’s Overture for the End of a Century, and a piece written for QUO by Lucas Syed. On the pops side, we’ll channel our inner drag queen with selections from Jerry Herman’s La Cage aux Folles and conclude with the rousing, signature arrangement of John Williams’ Star Wars Suite.