There are four newsworthy titles in Symphony of Northwest Arkansas’ 2022-23 season announcement.

• There will be six concerts on the main stage instead of five.

• The additional concert will be a “Battle of the Bands” with the Fayetteville Jazz Collective.

• SoNA will continue its efforts to bring to audiences “music that has historically and unjustifiably been ignored by the classical industry” with the performance of “Chokfi” (Rabbit) by Chickasaw Nation composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate.

• And the Fayetteville-based orchestra will release its first “full-length album featuring music that artfully blends virtual and ‘real-life’ performances by SoNA musicians and special guest soloists and ensembles from around the world.”

“This season, we’re ‘imagining big’ and presenting music that reflects our bold vision for our orchestra and the vast possibilities of orchestral music,” said SoNA Music Director Paul Haas. “We represent the past and present of our art form through centuries-old works by Copland, William Grant Still, Brahms and more. SoNA also shows the powerful future of our art form through works by contemporary visionaries like Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Jessica Meyer, collaborating with guest artists who also predict the bright future of our art form.”

“This season is our biggest and boldest yet, as we expand our core lineup from five to six concert programs and represent a broad perspective of what orchestral music can do,” adds D. Riley Nicholson, Director executive of SoNA. “This addition to the season is a pop concert, aptly titled ‘Battle of the Bands’; we will face off against the venerable Fayetteville Jazz Collective to form a hybrid jazz orchestra greater than the sum of its parts.”

The new season begins October 29 with a concert aptly titled Imagine Big, featuring Jessica Meyer’s “Go Big or Go Home” paired with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with cellist Julian Schwarz and “Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. ://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/jul/31/sonas-big-bold-season-news-includes-new-pops/”Binding all of these works together is a spirit of ambition, d imagination and contagious energy that speaks to the vibrant future of SoNA,” says Nicholson.

Then, in December, audiences can celebrate the magic and beauty of the holidays with two performances of A Very SoNA Christmas on December 10 featuring The SoNA Singers, followed by The Snowman: A Family Concert on December 11 with a special screening of hit film “The Snowman” complete with live orchestral soundtrack.

On January 7, 2023, SoNA begins the new year with a “cathartic and emotional program that touches on a fundamental human experience – each piece evokes a love that exists through time, between a mother and her child”. This concert features “Mother and Child” by William Grant Still, Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein and Symphony of Sorrows by Henryk Górecki with soprano Miriam Khalil.

On March 11, the season continues with New Canons, a concert that features live new works that will be included on SoNA’s upcoming album featuring music from composers Ray Lustig, Trevor New and Maestro Haas. After the intermission, the orchestra will perform Johannes Brahms’ joyously magnificent Symphony No. 3 in F major, which Haas describes as “truly one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written”.

Then in April, SoNA presents two concerts: On April 8, the Battle of the Bands brings together SoNA and the Fayetteville Jazz Collective, alternating pieces played by the jazz group, pieces played by the orchestra, then pieces played together, for “an evening of genre-defying music that will be enjoyed by a wide variety of music lovers.”

The season ends on April 29 with Evoking Folklore, which begins with “Chokfi” (Rabbit) by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, followed by traditional Spanish stories with “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” by Manuel de Falla with pianist Angela Cheng , and ends with classic evocations of Americana with Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3.

Soprano Miriam Khalil

The SoNA season will be bigger than ever – literally – with an extra concert, and the orchestra will also record a full album this year. (Courtesy image)

HeadshotViola player and composer Trevor New