The Midcoast Symphony Orchestra (MSO), conducted by Rohan Smith, returns to the stage for its 33rd concert season with performances in Topsham and Lewiston from October to June 2023. 

The season opens on Oct. 29 and 30 with Chiharu Naruse performing “Concerto No. 2” by Shostakovich. The MSO will also perform “Symphony No. 4” by Brahms and “Seven O’Clock Shout” by Valerie Coleman.

In a January 2023 program intended to entertain kids as well as adults, the orchestra will perform a variety of music. Highlights will be “Tubby the Tuba,” which introduces the audience to instruments of the orchestra, and piano soloist Mesa Schubeck, the orchestra’s Judith Elser Concerto Competition Winner, playing the first movement of Grieg’s ever-popular piano concerto. 

The husband and wife violin duo Rohan Smith (also MSO’s music director) and Eva Gruesser will be featured artists in March playing the “Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins” by Bach. Also on the program will be Haydn’s “Symphony No. 35 (“Haffner”),” Florence Price’s “Symphony No. 3,” and “Propellers in the Sun” by Tanner Porter.

Hiroya Miura, guest conductor, of Bates College will lead the May performances that will include Lili Boulanger’s “D'un matin de printemps,” Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Les Indes Galantes, Suite No. 1,” Maurice Ravel’s “La Valse,” and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at Exhibition.”

The season will end with the MSO teaming up with Motor Booty Affair, Maine’s own 70s disco/funk tribute band. This June pops concert, dubbed “Classical Night Fever,” will feature some of the best dance music of the era.

Complete concert and ticket information is at MidcoastSymphony.org. Season tickets for the four classical concerts are now available for $74. Individual tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the concert, and free for ages18 and under and for college students with ID. Audiences are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance at MidcoastSymphony.org or by calling the box office at (207) 481-0790.

All MSO musicians and staff members are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Masks are recommended for audience members.