S.C. Phil announces 26 concerts that comprise 2016/2017 season

A slate of 26 public concerts begins Friday, Sept. 9, 2016 when Music Director Morihiko Nakahara presents the first of six concerts in the orchestra’s signature Masterworks Series. Highlights include:

• return visits by extraordinary violinist Sayaka Shoji in September and banjo superstar Bela Fleck, on the world premiere tour of his Juno Concerto – which the S.C. Phil joined three orchestras to commission – in November;
• a multimedia concert event on Feb. 4 that uses two large screens flanking the stage to project live, “Up Close and Personal” images of the concert and make every seat the best in the house;
• famed works like the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Beethoven “Eroica” Symphony, Saint-Saens “Organ” Symphony, Mendelssohn “Reformation” Symphony, and Grieg Piano Concerto.

The 2016/2017 Masterworks Series includes:

• Russian Fireworks, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016
• Oktoberfest!, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016
• American Originals, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016
• Up Close and Personal, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017
• Beethoven & Blue Jeans, Saturday, March 11, 2017
• Certified Organic, Saturday, April 22, 2017

Masterworks Series concerts, performed at the Koger Center for the Arts, begin at 7:30 p.m. Subscriptions start at $82 and are on sale now through S.C. Philharmonic Audience Services at SCPhilharmonic.com/Subscribe, by calling 803.254.PHIL (7445), or visiting the S.C. Phil’s new office suite at 500 Taylor St., Suite 300, in Columbia. Discounts are available for persons 65 and older, students, and active-duty and retired members of U.S. Armed Forces. Individual-concert ticket sales begin Monday, Aug. 22 through the Koger Center Box Office at 806 Park St., 803.251.2222, and KogerCenterForTheArts.com.

A wildly successful Pops Series at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, sponsored by Capital City Lake Murray Country, continues as well. The three-concert series is regularly sold out for its 3:30 p.m. performances, which this season include:

• Romantic Refrains, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016
• Holiday Pops, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016
• Daring Escapades, Sunday, April 2, 2017

Pops Series subscriptions are on sale now through HarbisonTheatre.org or by calling 803.407.5011.

The S.C. Phil fulfills the educational aspect of its mission by cultivating new orchestral talent in its three-ensemble Youth Orchestras program. Headed by Youth Orchestra Conductor Neil Casey, the program helps 200 musicians from across the Midlands develop their talent as the work toward presenting three,3:30 p.m. concerts at the Koger Center for the Arts. Tickets, $10 for adults and $5 for children 17 and under, are available one hour before each performance at the door. Concert dates are:

• Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016
• Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017
• Sunday, April 23, 2017

In conjunction with the Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute Link Up program, the S.C. Phil presents four performances of The Orchestra Moves!, the culmination of an interactive, in-school music curriculum for K-3 students across the state. The concerts are Feb. 7-8, 2017 at the Koger Center for the Arts, with performances at 9:45 and 11:15 a.m.

More information on the Youth Orchestras or Link Up program is available at SCPhilharmonic.com/Education or by calling803.771.7937.

Rounding out the public concerts, S.C. Phil musicians will be venturing off the stage across the Midlands to offer guest conductors a turn on the podium. The innovative, interactiveConduct the Phil series, funded by a “Connected Communities” grant from the Central Carolina Community Foundation, has 10 concerts scheduled that will impact around 100,000 people. The schedule is to be finalized, then announced, this summer.