Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra will begin its 100th season Friday night with a centennial celebration bringing together the orchestra, the Cornhusker Marching Band and Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax.
The season-opening concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. LSO Executive Director Barbara Zach Lee said the milestone has brought an added level of excitement to the start of the season. “I have the normal first day of school energy right now, but really amped up because it’s the 100th season,” Zach Lee said during an interview on KLIN’s Drive Time Lincoln.
The concert will open on a large scale with Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and a new work by former LSO composer-in-residence Tyler White, “A Fivescore Festival: 100 Measures for 100 Years.” Members of the Cornhusker Marching Band will join the orchestra for both fanfares, with dozens of trumpet players across the front of the stage and other musicians positioned behind the orchestra and in the aisles.
“It’s safe to say more people on stage than any other LSO concert you’ve ever been to,” Zach Lee said. The concert also looks back to the orchestra’s beginnings. LSO’s first performance was held March 1, 1927, and Friday’s program will include two works performed at that concert: Mozart’s overture to “The Marriage of Figaro” and Liszt’s “Les Préludes.”
The second half will feature seven-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22. LSO principal keyboard Richard Fountain said Ax’s strength is his ability to connect with the musicians around him rather than treating a concerto solely as a showcase for the soloist. Fountain said Ax’s extensive chamber music experience is particularly suited to the Mozart concerto, which requires close interaction between the piano and orchestra.
The concert will also mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Zach Lee said the program will begin with the national anthem performed with members of the marching band. Friday’s performance is the first in a centennial season that will continue through spring 2027 with classical concerts, family programming, holiday performances and a live orchestral presentation of “Jurassic Park.”
Adult tickets for Friday’s concert are $25 and $50, with youth tickets available for $5. Zach Lee encouraged concertgoers to allow extra time because of street and building construction around the Lied Center.