Music and Musicians

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 2010-2011 season of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. A quick glance at this brochure demonstrates the variety and depth of the year ahead, and I hope you will share in my excitement about these programs as you take a closer look.

First, a personal aside: as most of you know, this is my last season as Music Director of the CSO, and after this year, I'll become Music Director Emeritus, and will continue with the organization on a part-time basis. I feel so fortunate to be able to continue to live and work with the orchestra, and in the city, that I love so much.

And because this is a "finale" of sorts, a few events, both tremendous and personally thrilling, have taken shape. For example, we have a genuine superstar on our Masterworks Series by the name of Midori! She selected Chattanooga as one of two cities in this country in which she will do a residency this year, playing Tchaikovsky with our Orchestra, and working with our Youth Orchestras, truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing. They asked me what I wanted to conduct on my last concert as Music Director, and I went straight to Mahler, and his transcendent "Resurrection" Symphony.

In Pops, it's back to one of the most important influences of my youth, The Beatles, with the magnificent lads of the Classical Mystery Tour. And I have a few tricks up my sleeve for the last pops, which we're calling "Bob's Favorite Things."

As for the search for my successor, we have five gifted and exciting "Maestri" joining us on the Masterworks Series. Each has a significant career and enormous potential, and one may end up leading our CSO in this new decade! Please look at the remarkable programs they're presenting, which include masterpieces by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Berlioz, Dvorak and Mussorgsky. They also made some marvelous choices from 20th and 21st Century Masters, such as Leonard Bernstein, John Adams and Jennifer Higdon. This is going to be a blast!

In Opera, we'll be performing Gian Carlo Menotti's brilliant and emotionally glorious "Amahl and the Night Visitors" in collaboration with the Chattanooga Theatre Center and the Chattanooga Ballet. This, a work for the entire family at the Holidays, along with our new dedicated Opera Fund, signals the return of Opera to the Tivoli!

Our Chamber Orchestra returns as well, this year with four programs, three for orchestra and one for our great ensembles. The December Chamber Orchestra concert will be "A Chamber Noel," – not to be missed.

What an amazing season ahead: great conductors, great music, Midori, The Beatles, and Gustav Mahler, to name just a few things! I look forward to seeing you at our concerts, and as always, thank you for your attendance and support.

Sincerely,

Robert Bernhardt
Music Director & Conductor