Dear friends,
Welcome to the 2023-24 season of the Hays Symphony! We have some great concerts
planned, beginning with Let’s Dance, featuring dance-inspired classics from rhumbas and tangos to Hungarian dances and polkas. Nordic Adventure will feature music from Denmark and Finland. Cantus Arcticus (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra) by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara incorporates birdsong into a beautiful and lush orchestral soundscape. We will close that program with Sibelius’s majestic and enthralling Symphony No. 5.
Our Children’s Halloween Concert, Symphony in Space, will feature music from Holst’s The Planets in an original tale of an alien wandering through the solar system. This December, we are bringing back our Holiday Pops concert, featuring some of your favorite sounds of the season (and a few musical surprises as well).
In February, the winners of the 2nd Annual FHSU Concerto/Aria Competition will showcase their brilliant performances in a concert highlighting our home-grown talent. Also in February, guest conductor Zhang Yue will lead the orchestra in a celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Our final concert of the season, Tragedy and Triumph, will bring together the Hays Symphony and FHSU Choirs for Mozart’s elegant and sublime Coronation Mass. We will bring the season to an exciting close with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, a bold, expressive, and thrilling masterpiece by the beloved composer.
Nothing beats the experience of live music, performed with passion by the wonderful members of our orchestra. As always, concerts are free and open to all. Should you wish to provide financial support to help maintain this cultural gem of western Kansas, donations are always welcome.
Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you soon for the 2023-24 season!
Brian Buckstead, Music Director