Orchestra Iowa to open new season in September

CEDAR RAPIDS — Orchestra Iowa will be back on the front lawn of Brucemore mansion Sept. 18 for Brucemorchestra; inside the Opus Concert Cafe from Oct. 1 to 3 with a chamber concert; and back inside the Paramount Theatre with Beethoven on Oct. 9 and the following afternoon inside the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.

That’s just the beginning.

“I feel like I’m Rip Van Winkle waking up,” Maestro Timothy Hankewich told his Facebook Live audience at 5 p.m. Thursday, as he announced the 2021-22 season.

“And I’ve been thinking to myself, has it really been a year? Well, judging from the way my formal wear fits, oh yeah, it’s been well over a year. In fact … it will be 560 days since we played our last concert, to when we perform our first concert at Brucemore on Sept. 18.”

That event will feature a dramatic flair, as the orchestra teams up with Revival Theatre Company, Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale and other local singers and dancers to stage an evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical theater hits — from “The Sound of Music” and “The King and I” to “South Pacific” and “Oklahoma.”

Hankewich also gleefully announced the orchestra’s “mission to take over Christmas,” beginning with a concert version of Handel’s “Messiah,” and continuing with the return of the Holiday Spectacular and “The Nutcracker” ballet, as well as a new offering — a more formal holiday brass and organ concert Dec. 14 at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Cedar Rapids.

From the sublime to the silly, Hankewich knows who he’s gonna call for Halloween. “Ghostbusters” will be on-screen, and the orchestra will be live with the soundtrack Oct. 30 at the Paramount.

The movie music of John Williams will mark in February 2022; the passion of Berlioz’s epic “Symphonie Fantastique” in March; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor in April; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, also in April; and the music of Queen on May 7.

“Of all our programs, this is the one that I’m most excited about: `Voices of Change: Beethoven’s 9th.’ Everybody knows and loves Beethoven Nine,” he said. “But in today’s society, we forget what Beethoven Nine means. It’s a work of the Enlightenment. It’s about democracy, it’s about brotherhood, it’s about equality, and when Beethoven wrote the work, it was on the heels of Napoleon’s defeat.”

With the old guard back in power, Hankewich noted that “using the `Ode to Joy’ was an act of sedition that could have landed Beethoven in jail.”

That piece will be paired with a contemporary work dealing with democracy and equal protection under the law: Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” which sets to music the last words of Kenneth Chamberlain, Trayvon Martin, Amado Diallo, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, John Crawford and Eric Garner. Featuring four Black vocalists, Hankewich calls this “the most powerful concert of the season.” It will be presented April 23 at the Paramount and April 24 at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City.

Opera is returning to the Paramount stage next winter, when Orchestra Iowa teams up with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre to present Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” on Jan. 21 and 23.

Musical Pranks, featuring Haydn’s “Surprise” symphony and Strauss’ tale of the prankster “Till Eulenspiegel,” will close out the season on May 21 and 22.

“All our musicians are just so excited to be coming back,” Hankewich said. “It’s been a tough year and a half for our musicians, many of whom if they’re not playing, they’re not earning. We will be able to get them back to not only create great music, but also to help them start earning a living again.“

Subscription sales begin in early May. For information on becoming a subscriber, call the Orchestra Iowa Ticket Office at (319) 366-8203 or email tickets@orchestraiowa.org

For the full season lineup, go to artsiowa.com/orchestra/2021-2022-season-announcement/

Brucemorchestra: 7 p.m. Sept. 18, 202, Brucemore Mansion lawn, 2160 Linden Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids

Horn Calls: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 and 2, Opus Concert Cafe, 119 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; 2:30 p.m. Oct. 3, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St., Coralville

Beethoven 5x5: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9, Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; 2:30 p.m. Oct. 10, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts

Ghostbusters in Concert: film with live orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30, Paramount Theatre

Handel’s Messiah: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20, Paramount Theatre; 2:30 p.m. Nov. 21, City High School Auditorium, 1900 Morningside Dr., Iowa City

Holiday Spectacular: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 and 4, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 5, Paramount Theatre

The Nutcracker: 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11, Adler Theatre, 136 E. Third St., Davenport; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18, Paramount Theatre

Brass & Organ Holiday Concert: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14, First Presbyterian Church, 310 Fifth St. SE, Cedar Rapids

Three’s a Crowd: Musical Trios: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 and 15, Opus Concert Cafe; 2:30 p.m. Jan. 16, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts

“Cosi Fan Tutte”: Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Orchestra Iowa, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 and 2 p.m. Jan. 23, Paramount Theatre

Musical Movie Moments by John Williams: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 20, Paramount Theatre

Spring is in the Air: 7:30 p.m. March 4 and 5, Opus Concert Cafe; 2:30 p.m. March 6, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts

Symphonie Fantastique: 7:30 p.m. March 12, Paramount Theatre

Rach 3: 7:30 p.m. April 2, Paramount Theatre; 2:30 p.m. April 3, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts

Voices of Change: Beethoven’s Ninth: 7:30 p.m. April 23, Paramount Theatre; 2:30 p.m. April 24, Hancher Auditorium, 141 E. Park Rd., Iowa City

Music of Queen: 7:30 p.m. May 7, Paramount Theatre

Musical Pranks: 7:30 p.m. May 21, Paramount Theatre; 2:30 p.m. May 22, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com