School is in session, we’ve felt the first hints of autumn’s chill in the air — it’s the time when new performance seasons traditionally begin. While Middle Tennessee’s professional ensembles and venues don’t all hold to that calendar, now’s still a good time to look at what some of them have in store for the city’s audiences.

 

One of Puccini’s greatest hits begins the Nashville Opera‘s season on Oct. 5 and 7 at TPAC. Tosca is a story of romance, political machinations and art set in Rome at the turn of the 19th century. They’ll follow that in November with Maria de Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla, staged in their own facility in Sylvan Heights.

 

One of Tchaikovsky’s great compositions kicks off the new season of the Nashville Ballet on Sept. 23 and 24. Their rendition of Sleeping Beauty features choreography by Marius Petipa and Paul Vasterling and a traditional storybook-style approach to the sets and costumes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_TNdC0vvJM

 

The Nashville Symphony got an unofficial start last week with their annual fundraiser performance gala featuring John Williams. Now it’s time for the Classical Series to start in earnest. For their first show, the NSO is playing orchestral music by Stravinsky, Debussy and Rockstar-turned-composer Kip Winger, Sept. 14-16.

 

In Clarksville, the Gateway Chamber Orchestra is gearing up for a program they’re calling “Classically Modern.” A Haydn symphony sits firmly in the classical realm, Timo Andres’ Paraphrase on the Themes of Brian Eno is thoroughly contemporary. Bridging those worlds is Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, with Diana McVey, Wesley Morgan and Jeffrey Williams. The GCO usually plays each of its programs in both Clarksville and Franklin. This time the show in Austin Peay State University’s Mabry Concert Hall is on Sept. 17, followed by a Sept. 18 performance at The Franklin Theater.

 

This year, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble is taking on the theme of composers who immigrated to America, from Bela Bartok and Bright Sheng to Karim Al-Zand and Yotam Haber. The first concert in the “Unbounded Creativity” series is on Oct. 24 at the W.O. Smith Music School.

 

Technically,  OZ Arts Nashville started its 2017-18 season in July. They’ve held a “Thursday Night Thing” local spotlight and their annual Family Day, but now it’s time for the first big show of the performance year by a visiting artist. On Sept. 14 and 15, Seattle-based zoe|juniper will present  Clear & Sweet . The immersive dance, video and musical performance draws on the Sacred Harp tradition of shape-note singing. Then, on Oct. 5, Nashville composer Tracy Silverman will perform his electric violin concerto with the Vanderbilt University Orchestra.

https://vimeo.com/198382626

 

Intersection Contemporary Ensemble began its season-long exploration of Connectivity with an outdoor performance in August. From Oct. 13 through 17th, they’ll present a six-hour sound installation by John Luther Adams called Veils and Vesper at Belmont United Methodist Church. The audience is invited to come and go as they please, taking in the fusion of live music and synthetic sounds based on a mathematical algorithm.

 

Composer Wu Fei is working all year with the musicians of chatterbird. Their first collaborative concert will feature silent film from the archives of the Nashville Public Library, performed in the auditorium of the Main Library on Nov. 15. A few weeks later, on Dec. 7, they’ll play music by Wu Fei, Nashville sound artist Robbie Hunsinger and Anna Thorvaldsottir at Vanderbilt’s Ingram Hall.

 

 

Find out more about the arts events coming up in our area on 91Classical’s Arts Calendar.