BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

bmartin@nwaonline.com

If there’s an overall philosophy for programming a season for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Ben Harris captures it in one statement.

“I think our audience has come to expect a mix of ‘fresh and familiar’ in a typical SoNA concert,” says Harris, SoNA’s executive director. “We work really hard to strike that balance with our programming so that we are always exposing our audience to things they haven’t heard before. And it’s exciting to share new music with them — especially music by Arkansas-based composers like Florence Price and William Grant Still!

“We feel it’s important to feature new or unfamiliar pieces alongside the classic works that we all know and love,” he goes on. “When we play a classic piece like Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, I enjoy hearing from audience members about the first time they heard it and what it means to them, I love that people have strong connections with this music because it’s attached to significant moments in their lives, and I hope that SoNA is able to help people make new memories with our performances.”

The 2024-25 season has just been announced:

Sept. 21 — “Oceans of Time: Orchestral Evolutions” with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; “Oceans to Cross” by Aldo Lopez-Gavilan with pianist Lara Downes; and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

Nov. 9 — “Futuristic Fantasia: SoNA Goes Sci-Fi,” a pops concert featuring classic pieces from sci-fi movie soundtracks.

Dec. 7 — A Very SoNA Christmas, a pops concert showcasing holiday classics with the SoNA Singers and special guest soloists.

Feb. 16, 2025 — “Jupiter Rising,” with “Russian Rag” by Elena Kats-Chermin; “Tenebrae” by Osvaldo Golijov; Trombone Concerto by Launy Grøndahl with Cory Mixdorf on trombone; and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major (Jupiter).

April 19, 2025 — “American Voices: Rhapsody in Blue” with William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony No. 1; Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with pianist Stewart Goodyear; and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor.

The process of choosing a season starts nine months to a year before the season begins with finding dates that are open with no Razorback games or conflicts with other regional orchestras.

“Once the dates are booked, we brainstorm themes and material for concerts and start putting the season together piece by piece,” Harris says. “Our audience is great about letting us know how we’re doing; they’re very forthcoming with their feedback and we appreciate that! The feedback from the audience plays a big part in programming for the next season.”

Harris says the Christmas concert is always fun and a chance to showcase additional local talent, while the sci-fi pops concert is a new idea.

“But when you consider how crucial orchestral music is to sci-fi movies, it makes a lot of sense,” he adds. “Think of the beginning of any Star Wars movie, when the music kicks in and the text-crawl appears, the music sets the tone for the whole experience.

“And some very familiar classical pieces have been prominently featured in sci-fi movies, like Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ I always associate that piece with the movie because that was the first time I heard it when I was a kid.”

Harris says so many season subscribers come back year after year, even forming friendships with people who sit near them. “Because they see them at every concert, over time they become SoNA buddies,” he laughs. But he’s also happy to welcome a steady influx of first-time concertgoers who are also new to the region.

“I meet a lot of people at concerts who tell me they’ve recently relocated to Northwest Arkansas, and one of the things that drew them to the area was the vibrant arts culture,” Harris says. “And we’re proud that SoNA is a big part of that.”

__

FYI

SoNA Season

Subscriptions

Season tickets are on sale now ranging from $84 for students to $158 and up for adults. Single tickets go on sale July 24 at sonamusic.org.