Mobile Symphony Goes Casual for Beethoven & Blue Jeans,
March 12 & 13
The Mobile Symphony Orchestra (MSO) invites concertgoers to dress down and leave uplifted for Beethoven & Blue Jeans, Saturday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 13, at 2:30 p.m., at Mobile’s historic Saenger Theatre. The annual casual concert is always an audience favorite, and this year’s performance features Beethoven’s powerful Symphony No. 8. Acclaimed pianist Charlie Albright joins the orchestra for the Grieg Piano Concerto.
“Beethoven and Blue Jeans is back! And so is pianist Charlie Albright, one of Mobile’s favorite guest artists. Charlie and I have worked together so many times that he has become a good friend,” says Scott Speck, music director. “He plays with a marvelous virtuosity and a buoyant, generous spirit. It feels like he’s performing just for you — and in a way, he is. The very first time I worked with Charlie, he played the Grieg concerto, and it brought the house down. I’m so happy that we’re now able to bring that experience here to Mobile.”
Pianist/composer/improviser Charlie Albright has been praised for his “jaw-dropping technique and virtuosity meshed with a distinctive musicality” by The New York Times, and for his “ease and smoothness that refuses to airbrush the music” by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Albright last appeared with the Mobile Symphony in 2016 for a stellar performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Three-concert season memberships are $51-$204. Tickets are on sale now for $20-$89. Student tickets are $10. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at 251-432-2010 or at the symphony box office, 257 Dauphin Street. Through MSO’s Big Red Ticket program, sponsored by the Alabama Power Foundation,
students in grades K-12 can attend any of the season’s six classical Sunday performances for free when accompanied by a paying adult (excludes special events like the annual holiday concert). More details can be found online at mobilesymphony.org.
The MSO will review its COVID-19 safety policies on a concert-by-concert basis, and updates will be posted on the website: mobilesymphony.org.
Sponsors are The Robert and Joanna Cunningham Charitable Foundation, the Larkins Foundation, Jim and Karen Atchison, and Alabama Public Radio, media sponsor.
All concerts have been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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The Mobile Symphony has been a regional orchestra for the central Gulf Coast since 1997. Scott Speck serves as music director. In addition to offering a full season of classical and pops concerts, the orchestra serves the area with a wide range of educational and outreach programs including student performances, string academies and a youth orchestra. http://www.mobilesymphony.org
