ASTRAL BLOG

ASTRAL ANNOUNCES 2019/2020 SEASON

Astral | Monday April 15, 2019

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Astral announces its 2019/2020 Astral In Concert season. The season features Astral’s signature Center City Concerts series, which presents programming of time-honored masterworks, rarely heard chamber music gems, and new works made possible by Astral’s Micro-Commissioning Program. The concluding concert of the season, titled Musical Roots, is an adventurous chamber music experience including improvisation and multimedia. Astral also continues both its popular Astral Circle salon series in homes in and around Philadelphia and its Astral At Dizengoff series, and continues its partnership with WRTI-FM.

“Astral kicks off the season with WRTI-FM, as we co-host our popular Block Party. Then, audiences experience the National Auditions Winners Concert and meet our newest artists through conversation and performances. The season concludes with a look at our own ‘Musical Roots’ as living composers continue to take inspiration from many cultural traditions.”
–Dan Visconti, Artistic Director

CENTER CITY CONCERTS

Astral & WRTI Block Party
Saturday, September 14, 2019, 3:00-5:00pm (Rain date: Sunday, September 15, 3:00-5:00pm)

Astral and WRTI team up for a free block party in Midtown Village. Emceed by WRTI host Debra Lew Harder, enjoy picnic fare and performances by four dynamic Astral artists: Zlatomir Fung, cello; Rachel Lee Hall, harp, Beomjae Kim, flute; and Brittany Lasch, trombone.
Location: 1213 Walnut Street corridor, Philadelphia

2019 National Auditions Winners Concert
Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 7:00pm

Selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants from across the United States, Astral’s 2019 National Auditions Winners are among the finest rising-star classical musicians of their generation. Be the first to hear them in this thrilling showcase of Astral’s newest artists.
Venue: Stotesbury Mansion, 1923 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Annie Wu, flute – Folk x Fantasy x Flute
Saturday, November 2, 2019, 7:30pm

Annie Wu has curated her presentation of the flute – in folk and fantastical idioms. Her program includes Bartók’s Suite Paysanne Hongroise and Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, as well as works by Pierre Sancan, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Thierry Lancino, and a world premiere by Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne, made possible through Astral’s Micro-Commissioning Program. With pianist Feng Niu.
Venue: Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, 1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Natalia Kazaryan, piano
Sunday, December 15, 2019, 3:00pm

Hailed by The New York Sun for her “prodigious ability”, Natalia Kazaryan won a Fulbright Grant to Paris to explore Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus. She performs selections from the great work in this recital, along with Lili Boulanger’s Trois morceaux, Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, and a world-premiere work by Alexandra Gardner, made possible through Astral’s Micro-Commissioning Program.  
Venue: Benjamin Franklin Hall, American Philosophical Society, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia

Katie Hyun, violin
Saturday, January 25, 2020, 7:30pm

Equally enthusiastic about both modern and baroque music for strings, Katie Hyun’s program includes works by Corelli and Biber, as well as David Lang and Bartók. Also on the program is a world-premiere piece by George Meyer, made possible through Astral’s Micro-Commissioning Program. Guest collaborators are baroque cellist Ezra Seltzer and theorbo player Adam Cockerham.
Venue: Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, 1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Emily Levin, harp
Sunday, March 22, 2020, 3:00pm

The principal harp of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Emily Levin’s recital spans the centuries and showcases her instrument’s vast color worlds in works by Britten, Fauré, Bach, and Piazzolla, and includes famed harpist Henriette Renié’s Ballade Fantastique (after “The Tell-Tale Heart” of Edgar Allan Poe) anda world-premiere work by Jonathan Cziner, made possible through Astral’s Micro-Commissioning Program.
Venue: Benjamin Franklin Hall, American Philosophical Society, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia

Timothy Chooi, violin
Saturday, April 18, 2020, 7:30pm

Timothy Chooi – “The Miracle” (La Presse, Montreal) – demonstrates his prodigious virtuosity in dazzling violin works of Dvorák, Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, and Prokofiev, as well as Chen Gang’s Sunshine Over Tashkurgan. With Astral laureate pianist Sejoon Park.
Venue: Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, 1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Musical Roots
Saturday, May 2, 2020, 7:30pm

Musical Roots is inspired by blues, hip-hop, and Appalachian singing and fiddling. Seven Astral artists are featured in an adventurous chamber music experience, in which, along with the audience, they explore genres beyond classical music through improvisation and multimedia. The works selected for the program are built around folk and popular music as interpreted by some of today’s most eclectic classical composers, including Missy Mazzoli, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Jennifer Higdon, Dan Visconti, and more.
Venue: Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, 1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

The Astral Circle

A distinct classical music experience in Philadelphia, the Astral Circle is a series of 5 elegant salon performances in beautiful homes and venues in and around the city. During these popular events, guests enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres before the concerts, share a delectable dinner afterwards with fellow music lovers, and are among the first to meet Astral’s newest artists.

Astral At Dizengoff

Join Astral for the fourth season of the popular Astral At Dizengoff concerts, where we slip out of the concert hall for a cozy evening of classics and cocktails. Astral artists curate this contemporary listening experience, side by side with the celebrated cuisine and cocktails of the restaurants Dizengoff and Abe Fisher. Dates to be announced in the fall of 2019.

Subscriptions on sale now.
Single tickets go on sale June 1, 2019
Individual Astral Circle reservations go on sale September 1, 2019