Windsor Symphony Orchestra talks next season

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra announces their next season with some new ideas.

On Feb. 5 the WSO announced their 2015-16 concert season. According to Robert Franz, the WSO’s music director, next season will feature some ideas from previous years as well as some new innovative ideas. Some of these ideas were demonstrated in the WSO’s current season, in which the orchestra has branched out into more multimedia.

On Feb. 7 at the Capitol Theatre WSO presented Wright Flight, an original piece featuring music written by American composer Lawrence Dillon in collaboration with Franz and accompanied by three actors telling the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright. According to Franz, this is just a taste of what will come next season. Next season will showcase American violinist Rachel Barton Pine, Broads on Broadway and much more.

“The orchestra really is a part of how the city feels about itself,” said Franz, explaining why the orchestra is important to Windsor. “This is a place where people can come and escape the world they’re in.They can be engaged, they can be entertained, they can be thrilled, they can be brought to tears, they can be made to laugh. There is just so much music can provide in a person’s life when heard through a live performance.”

During the next season there will be numerous genres and performances on stage. In their current season they began with astronaut Chris Hadfield and Franz said he promises the future of the WSO will only get better.

In late 2015 and early 2016, the Capitol Theatre will be hosting two new festivals. The first festival will be late 2015 and will be called Operafest and the second will be in spring 2016 titled Mozartfest which will present two concerts featuring the music of Mozart.

“The work that Robert is doing is to break down that preconceived idea of what an orchestra concert experience can be and make it something new and exciting,” said WSO Communications Manager Shelley Sharpe. “I think with this next season and with this season too, it is a great opportunity for people to try something new out no matter what you like. If you want to see opera, there is a great opportunity to come out and see a couple of different operas. If you want to see hunky firemen (Burning Love) on stage, you can come out and do that as well, and everything in between. It sounds cliché to say there is something for everybody, but there really is something for everybody.”

The orchestra’s next show will be on Feb. 15, where Tony Award winning American actress Debbie Gravitte will join the WSO and sing some romantic love songs.