Boston Civic Symphony opens its 102nd season on November 8 at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, pairing Brahms' Tragic Overture and Stravinsky's Petrushka with a rarely staged triple showcase: Beethoven's Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major. Music director Francisco Noya leads the program, which brings together three guest soloists for a work that asks an entire trio to carry the solo line against a full orchestra.
The season-opening concert features violinist Alexander Kerr, cellist Emmanuel Feldman and pianist Joy Cline Phinney, according to Patch. Noya has said the Triple Concerto “combines chamber-music intimacy with the power of a full symphony,” framing the piece as a centerpiece of the opening night rather than a mere companion to the Brahms and Stravinsky works on the bill.
A Season Built Around Three Jordan Hall Concerts
Beyond the November opener, Boston Civic Symphony will perform three major concerts this season at Jordan Hall, per the same Patch report. The program continues on March 21 with the Boston premiere of Gonzalo Grau's Odisea, described as a showcase of Latin classical music, and closes on May 23 with Brahms' German Requiem performed alongside Chorus pro Musica.
The orchestra traces its roots to 1924, when it was founded in Boston by educator and composer Joseph Wagner, Patch notes. Its alumni roster includes some notable early-career names: both Leonard Bernstein and Yo-Yo Ma performed with the ensemble before their careers took off, a detail that underscores the group's long-running role as a launching pad as much as a performance outlet.
An Ensemble of Students and Amateurs Led by a Veteran Conductor
Today the orchestra is described by WBUR News as Boston's orchestra of talented amateur players and conservatory students, a structure that puts community musicians on stage alongside rising professionals. That mix sits at the center of what Boston Civic Symphony calls its mission: continuing a legacy of presenting ambitious repertoire while remaining rooted in community and education, bringing together skilled student musicians and dedicated amateur performers.
Leading that ensemble is Noya, who began his professional career as conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Valencia in Venezuela and has since conducted the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops. He has been a member of the conducting faculty at Berklee College of Music since 2001, and according to bostoncivicsymphony.org, he currently serves as resident conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the New Philharmonia Orchestra in Newton.
Three Soloists With Deep Résumés
The opening night's soloists each bring significant credentials of their own. Alexander Kerr was appointed concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam at age 26 and has been concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2011; he holds the Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Music as Professor of Violin at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, according to Boston Civic Symphony's concert page.
Cellist Emmanuel Feldman, who is on the performance faculty of Tufts University and Project STEP, has been hailed by composer John Williams as “an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist,” per the orchestra's own program notes. Feldman is also co-founder of the cello-double bass duo Cello e Basso and has performed with the Celebrity Series of Boston, the Boston Pops and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, among others, having collaborated with artists including Gilbert Kalish, Paul Neubauer and Bobby McFerrin.
Pianist Joy Cline Phinney rounds out the trio. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in piano from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Ensemble Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and she is a member of the Boston Public Quartet, having appeared in solo and chamber music recitals across the United States and Europe.
