72nd Michigan Philharmonic Season 2017 - 2018

2016: Women take Strides!

While the Michigan Philharmonic embraced women composers in their 2016/2017 concert and lecture series, the Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed deemed 2016 to be classical music’s “year of the woman.”  Du Yun became the seventh woman to win a music Pulitzer Prize for her operatic composition Angel’s Bone this year and history was made as all three music Pulitzer Prize finalists were women. Congratulations to all women working towards breaking the universal glass ceiling!

This season the Michigan Philharmonic continue its support for Women Composers as they will be preforming works by Mary Watkins, Alice Gomez, Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Gloria Estefan this upcoming season!

2017/2018 Season:

Last season, the Michigan Philharmonic focused on the promoting Women composers through lectures series and their concert series in the 2016/2017 season. This year, the Michigan Philharmonic is excited to broaden their focus as they plan to host speakers and composers that embody diversity. Look out for our upcoming lectures featuring speakers who’ll discuss Art Advocacy as the Michigan Philharmonic embraces art education, local artists, and diverse cultures and audiences.

Community/ Local Artists

The Michigan Philharmonic has a long-standing tradition of embracing the Plymouth-Canton-Livonia community as well as featuring composers form around the world at their concerts throughout each season. As they maintain their tradition embracing world class talent and local artists, this year the two of the three guest composers, Zhou Tian and Ricardo Lorenz, will be from the Lansing area. Look out for these groups and local composer/musicians in these upcoming concerts:

·       Hail to the Veterans (November 10^th, 2017) featuring:

–       The Detroit Children’s Choir

–       Main Street Opera Theatre

–       Plymouth Counselors Youth Chorale

–       MPYO Sinfonia in the concert

·       Miniature Masterpieces (January 2017) featuring:

–       Dennis Carter, Michigan Philharmonic’s own flutist and prominent musician in the metro-Detroit area

·       Tchaikovsky Spectacular (Sunday March 18th, 2018) featuring:

–       Zhou Tian and this composition,  A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

·       Danzones y Tangos: A Cabaret Café (April 14^th, 2018)

–       Ricardo Lorenzo and his composition, Habanera Science

A Touch of the Irish

This season, the Michigan Philharmonic has embraced and highlighted numerous compositions written by women throughout their concert series. This upcoming concert, A Touch of the Irish, will feature the Gaelic Symphony in celebration of 150 years of Amy Beach, one of America’s most influential female composers.

Did you know?

·         Amy Beach is the first American woman to succeed as a composer of large-scale works.

·         She was 7 years old when she performed her first private recital.

·         She made her debut as a concert pianist at the age of 16.

·         She founded and was the first president of the Society of American Women Composers.

·         She was the first female American composer to compose a symphony performed by  an orchestra, Gaelic Symphony.

·         She is the first American woman to perform as a soloist on her own work. 

2016 - 2017 Season "Celebrating Women Composers"

Creating a new season requires a process of creativity. The combination of theme, music, compositions, entertainment, and education are taken into consideration to shape the season. Under the leadership of Music Director and Conductor Nan Washburn, the Michigan Philharmonic has included many performances and compositions by women composers. To this date, Nan Washburn has included many performances and compositions by women composers.

The Michigan Philharmonic is proud to present our 2016-2017 Season ‘Empowering Women through music featuring Women Composers’. Opening our new season is Beethoven and Blue Jeans on Saturday October 8 at 7:30 pm, at the Village Theater on Cherry Hill Rd. in Canton. This curated concert blends joyful expectations and a connection with nature that permeates through the melodies of the three-featured pieces. Starting with Glinka’s Kamarinskaya where the traditional Russian dance folklore sets the tones for festivities. The celebration continues with Katherine Hoover’s Four Winds Flute Concerto, a piece that explores breath as the essential part of living depicting the wind at different times of the year, and is performed by our own Michigan Flute Star, Amy Porter. Closing this fantastic music experience with everyone’s favorite Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony; as Beethoven said the Sixth Symphony is "more the expression of feeling than painting".

Feel the breeze of fall with this warm bucolic season opener featuring Katherine’s Hoover Four Winds Flute Concerto.

For tickets, call 734.451.2112 or visit www.michiganphil.org