Upcoming Concerts
2010 - 2011 West Michigan Symphony Concerts
The Symphony has lowered ticket prices beginning with the 2010-11 season. A full series of eight concerts is available for just $80!
2010-2011 Season Ticket Order Form
2010-2011 WMS Press Release
Please complete the Order Form or call 231.726.3231 ext. 23 to reserve your tickets!
Single Tickets are on sale NOW! Call for your tickets today!
The Romantic Road – a passionate journey
(Series A, B)
Friday & Saturday, September 24 & 25, 2010
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Scott Speck, conductor
Bella Hristova, violin
Wagner – Tannhäuser Overture
Bruch – Violin concerto no. 1
Brahms – Symphony no. 4
It took Brahms more than 40 years before he dared to compose a symphony, and his final word on the subject is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. It’s majestic, lyrical, deep, rousing and transporting. Steeped in the traditions of Bach and Beethoven, Brahms nevertheless created a completely novel style, full of passion and longing. Wagner’s Tannhäuser expresses the tension between pure spiritual love and carnal, erotic love, in an overture that is both lyrical (some would say catchy) and triumphant. The Bruch violin concerto is the essence of Romanticism, and a worthy complement to the other two pieces on the program. Virtuosic, expressive, and full of jaw-dropping pyrotechnics, it’s the perfect showcase for a young superstar-in-the-making.
Salute to John Williams – the soundtrack to our lives
(Series A, C)
Friday & Saturday, October 29 & 30, 2010
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Scott Speck, conductor
John Williams is the Mozart, Verdi and Tchaikovsky of our age, having created more singable melodies than any other living orchestral composer. To a great extent, his powerful and evocative film scores have formed the soundtrack to our lives. The West Michigan Symphony performs excerpts from Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List, E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Superman, and, of course, the music from the Star Wars saga.
Vienna Boys Choir*
(*Not included in season ticket package.)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
The world’s most beloved choir has been thrilling audiences for over 100 years. Their eagerly anticipated tours play to sell out crowds nationwide!
Tickets are available by calling the West Michigan Symphony Ticket Office at 231-726-3231 extension 23 OR purchase online!!
Holiday Concert – the sights and sounds of the season
(Series A, C)
Friday & Saturday, December 10 & 11, 2010
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Emil de Cou, guest conductor
Muskegon Civic Theatre Children's Choir
The joy and warmth of the season returns to the Frauenthal Theater for our annual holiday celebration featuring everyone’s favorite carols and a joyful audience sing-a-long. We welcome dynamic American conductor Emil de Cou, associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra and now NSO @ Wolf Trap festival conductor.
Baroque and Beyond – a mid-winter treat
(Series A, B)
Friday & Saturday, February 4 & 5, 2011
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Scott Speck, conductor
Bach – Brandenburg Concerto no. 3
Stravinsky – Pulcinella Suite
Strauss – Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
The Frauenthal Theatre is transformed into an intimate candlelit space for a concert of music from and inspired by the Baroque Era. Bach’s Brandenburg concerto no. 3 is one of the Great Master’s most enduring works. Stravinsky based his sparkling and tuneful Pulcinella Suite on the music of Pergolesi. And Richard Strauss’ Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is a tribute to the Baroque Jean-Baptiste Lully and the playwright Molière, full of fun, inside jokes, and great beauty.
Concert Sponsor: 
Sustainability: A West Michigan Journey
(Series A, B)
Friday & Saturday, March 25 & 26, 2011
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
A multi-media presentation and collaboration with Grand Valley State University
Scott Speck, conductor
Seven generations ago, Beethoven was at the peak of his career in Vienna while missionaries and fur traders were just beginning to settle in what is now West Michigan, an area then inhabited by the Ottawa (or Odawa as native people prefer) tribe. What are we in West Michigan doing today for our seventh generation? The WMS, in partnership with GVSU, explores West Michigan’s journey toward sustainability through an evocative multi-media concert that unites spectacular images of our region’s past and present with nature-inspired music by composers such as Beethoven, Smetana, and Liadov.
Beethoven and Blue Jeans –
rhythmic energy
(Series A, B)
Friday & Saturday, April 15 & 16, 2011
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Scott Speck, conductor
eighth blackbird, soloists: flute, clarinet, violin/viola, cello, percussion, piano
Rossini – Overture to The Thieving Magpie
Jennifer Higdon – On a Wire concerto for eighth blackbird and orchestra
Beethoven – Symphony no. 7
Kinetic energy pulsates throughout this concert. Wagner called Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony “the apotheosis of the dance,” and infectious rhythm is the hallmark of his most heart-poundingly exciting masterpiece. Rossini’s sprightly and mischievous Overture to The Thieving Magpie opens the program. As a co-commissioning orchestra, the WMS presents the Michigan premiere of the concerto On a Wire by the great American composer Jennifer Higdon (blue cathedral), written for and performed by the cutting-edge chamber ensemble eighth blackbird.
Simply Swingin' with Sinatra and Friends
Steve Lippia, Vocalist
(Series A, C)
Friday & Saturday, May 6 & 7, 2011
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Scott Speck, conductor
Steve Lippia, vocalist
You’ve asked for it and here it is! A sensational new show featuring Pops sensation, Steve Lippia, singing songs from the popular American songbook made famous by Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone and Sammy Davis, Jr. Steve will treat you to an evening of great hits such as Beyond the Sea, Unforgettable, Mack the Knife, Almost Like Being in Love, On the Street Where You Live, What Kind of Fool Am I, Just in Time, The Good Life, and I Left My Heart in San Francisco.
Chasing the Sun – from darkness into light
(Series A, B)
Friday & Saturday, June 3 & 4, 2011
7:30 pm, Frauenthal Theater
Scott Speck, conductor
Gleb Ivanov, piano
John David Earnest – Chasing the Sun
Prokofiev – Piano concerto no. 3
Tchaikovsky – Symphony no. 4
The great Peter Tchaikovsky’s enormously powerful Fourth Symphony is one man’s response to fate and eventual triumph over his own destiny. Prokofiev’s Piano concerto no. 3, featured in the film The Competition, is one of the most devilishly difficult and puckishly enjoyable works in the repertoire. In this concert we introduce the young virtuoso Gleb Ivanov, whose pianistic prowess has dazzled audiences from coast to coast. And Chasing the Sun is a brief and brilliant orchestral showpiece from the living American composer John David Earnest, a student of Samuel Barber and a proud torch bearer of the American Romantic tradition.