Premier Season To Start for Texarkana Symphony Orchestra

Zoie Clift, travel writer
Arkansas Tourism

The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Marc-Andre Bougie, will launch its premiere season on Sept. 12 at the Historic Perot Theater at 7:30 p.m. The season starts with the concert “A Night at the Movies!” This will be the first of four concerts the Symphony will be presenting this season.

The first concert will feature tenor Drew Slatton, a native of Houston, Texas. Slatton has performed more than 35 leading roles with operas around the world, including Cavaradossi in Tosca, Radames in Aida, Canio in Pagliacci, and Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly. He also has been a featured soloist in venues such as the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Slatton’s voice has been described as "impassioned," "incandescent," and "intense.”

Following this concert will be a production of Students & Masters on Nov. 14, introducing music by teacher and composer Antonio Salieri, known as a rival of Mozart’s, as well as music from two of his most accomplished pupils, Schubert and Beethoven. The Texarkana Regional Chorale and Shreveport Chorale will join the Symphony for this concert. Performances will take the audience through some of the greats of Russian Romantic music, including excerpts from Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky, and Scheherazade, by Rimsky-Korsakov during From Russia with Love, on Jan. 9. Wrapping up the season is a performance of “…And All that Jazz!!!” on March 20. The production will highlight some of the greatest American Music of the twentieth-century and will feature pianist Mary Scott Goode in Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. Goode is an associate professor of music at Texarkana College where she teaches piano and Music Appreciation.

Season and single tickets are currently on sale. Ticket prices vary depending on location, and range from $36 to $5. Each concert will be preceded by a Concert Preview given by the Maestro at 6:45. For ticket info, call the Historic Perot Theatre Box Office at (903) 792-4992.