You have your pick of live music from several Oklahoma institutions coming up in August and September.
Here is how the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, the Armstrong Auditorium and OKC Broadway will launch their latest seasons. I’ll have more from others, like Canterbury Voices, in future columns.
• Oklahoma City Philharmonic. OKCPHIL will host a free concert in at Scissortail Park at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 3 featuring “Marvelous Music From the Movies.” Its 35th season kicks off Sept. 9 with “Opening Night,” a performance in its Inasmuch Foundation Classics Series at the Civic Center Music Hall. Opening Night will celebrate an all-Tchaikovsky evening, starting with the composer’s violin concerto. Ukrainian violinist Anastasia Petryshak will accompany the orchestra. The show coincides with Lyric Theatre’s September world premiere of “Concerto.”
The Philharmonic’s season will focus on “humanity with all its emotional expressions,” said Maestro Alexander Mickelthwate, the OKCPHIL music director in a news release.
Also, the Discovery Family Series’ Shining, Shimmering, Splendid: Sing Along with Phil” will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Civic Center. For details, go to okcphil.org or call 405-842-5387.
• OSU’s McKnight Center. The McKnight Center’s lineup includes performances by the New York Philharmonic, touring Broadway musicals The Book of Mormon and Come From Away, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, country superstar Martina McBride and more, a news release noted. The season kicks off Sept. 15 with American Idol winner Scotty McCreery. The next week, the New York Philharmonic will perform for a “Bright Night Gala” concert Sept. 22, “Saturday Night at the Movies” Sept. 23 and “New World Symphony” Sept. 24. See details at mcknightcenter.org.
• Armstrong Auditorium. The 25th annual Performing Arts Series begins Sept. 12 with a performance by native Oklahoman Joshua Roman. He is a cellist who is currently the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s artist-in-residence, and his program will feature Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 2, Bartok’s famous Romanian Folk Dances and works from American composers, a news release noted.
The Edmond auditorium’s roster this season also includes international artists like Taiwan-born violinist Ray Chen, British-based singers VOCES8 and Vida Guitar Quartet, Paris-based Le Consort baroque quartet, Russian piano phenomenon Ilya Yakushev, the Italian Saxophone Quartet and the Sofia Philharmonic of Bulgaria. For tickets go to armstrongauditorium.org.
• OKC Broadway is bringing the touring production featuring the story of musical greats The Temptations to Oklahoma City this week. Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations opens Tuesday and runs through Sunday at the Civic Center.
On Broadway, Ain’t Too Proud was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won for Best Choreography. It tells the story of The Temptations from their origins in Detroit to their induction of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Buy tickets online at okcbroadway.com. Also, make plans to attend the Sept. 21 special screening of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse featuring live music accompanying the film. The “live in concert” version blends symphonic orchestral music with hip-hop and includes a DJ scratcher on stage.
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