Annapolis Symphony Orchestra

09/23/2025

Last weekend, our staff met several A*O Board of Trustees and Friends of Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (FA*O) members at Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation’s fundraiser “For the Love of the Library”.
📚 We are honored to partner with AACPL whenever possible, such as we did for our award-winning project last season when Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) APEX Arts students displayed artwork inspired by Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” at the Michael Busch Annapolis library. This year we offered tickets to our performances as an auction item to supprt the AACPL Foundation. We are extremely proud of AACPL and the Foundation’s life-changing and impactful programs and look forward to continuing to support and partner with them in the future.

From left: Director of Marketing and Communications Diana Love, former Board Member and sponsor of Signature Series: Echoes of Heritage, Peter Evans, Philanthropist and former A*O Board Chair Anna Greenberg, FA*O President Stephen Holt, A*O Board of Trustees Member Collot Guerard, and Director of Community Outreach and Grants Julie Nolan.

09/21/2025

We are grateful to work with Dennis Coughlin nearly everyday at Maryland Hall. In fact, we are excited for the construction work on our offices to be complete so we can pop in to visit Dennis more often.

Dennis, thank you for your family’s service to our country and community.

09/19/2025

🎼 “It is a joy and an honor to join the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra to share this new concerto written especially for me by Arturo Márquez. His music carries the heartbeat of Mexico—its colors, rhythms, and spirit—and through the guitar it becomes an intimate dialogue with the orchestra and the audience. Every performance feels like an act of celebration, and I cannot wait to experience that energy together in Annapolis." - Pablo Sainz Villegas

“I am absolutely thrilled to welcome international guitar virtuoso Pablo Sainz Villegas to our Annapolis audiences. He is one of the brightest stars of a new generation of Spanish masters of the instrument. The guitar is perhaps the most profound expression of Spain’s soul, carrying the history and spirit of its people for centuries. In Arturo Márquez’s Concierto Místico y Profano—a work he personally commissioned—Pablo brings those magical traditions across the Atlantic, weaving old and new worlds together in a uniquely poetic way.” - Conductor José-Luis Novo

🗓️ Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to experience renowned guitarist in Annapolis. Friday & Saturday, October 10 & 11 at 7:30 PM. Take a break from the boat show and football game to relax and recharge with beautiful music, surrounded by fellow music-lovers and your friends at Maryland Hall. Tickets start at $25. Student/faculty tickets are just $10 - call the Box Office to redeem student tickets. Military/Law Enforcement/First Responder discounts are also available. Please call the Box Office at 410-263-0907.

The Arts Council of Anne Arundel County Maryland State Arts Council

Annapolis Symphony Orchestra produces and promotes memorable symphonic music that increases awareness, enjoyment, and appreciation of music for all ages.

09/19/2025

Take a peek at our 2025-26 concert schedule! From classical favorites to Holiday Pops at new locations (Severna Park High School and Bowie State University), we've got you covered!

Tickets start at just $25, and $10 student tickets are available by calling the Box Office. Don't miss out on a magical, musical experience - get your tickets today!

Please join the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra for concerts in the 2025-26 season, our 64th in Annapolis. Tickets start at $25, and $10 student tickets are available. Call the Box Office today at 410-26

09/18/2025

🎶 Experience the majesty of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” 🎶

🖋️ Composed in 1893 in New York City while Dvořák served as director of the National Conservatory of Music, this incredible symphony was written with a mission: to help forge and document an "American" style of classical music. Opening to rave reviews, New World Symphony is one of Dvořák’s most popular works internationally and remains a staple of the classical music repertoire.

🌟 What makes A New World so special: 🌟

🌎 Dvořák drew deeply on African American spirituals and Native American melodies — believing those traditions held the true heart of American national music.

💃 Dvořák's Bohemian roots show through: Czech folk tunes, polkas, and rhythms of his homeland are woven throughout.

⭕ The structure is masterful — a cyclical form means musical themes introduced in one movement return in others, giving the whole work unity, power, and emotional resonance.

The result? A sound that feels vast and sweeping — evoking the grandeur of the American landscape — and also intimate, longing, full of human emotion and yearning. It’s no wonder the premiere, on December 16, 1893 at Carnegie Hall in New York City, was hailed as a landmark event.

⁉️ 🚀 Did you know: Neil Armstrong actually took a recording of the New World Symphony with him on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Join us to experience New World Symphony at Maryland Hall on October 10th & 11th at 7:30 PM for a night where history, emotion, and artistry collide in sound. A free per-concert lecture by WBJC's Jonathan Palevsky will be held for ticket holders in the Main Auditorium.

🎟 Tickets start at just $25, and we offer $10 student tickets when you call the box office. Don’t miss this chance — be part of something extraordinary. Tickets: https://annapolissymphony.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/ #/events/a0SVs00000FrKxfMAF

09/16/2025

Calling all students for our annual School Field Trip Concert. Reserve seats for your students today- this is truly an extraordinary musical experience you don’t want to miss- the power of the music, videography and photography, narrated by NASA will have your class tuned in to curiosity! Call 410-263-0907 to reserve your school’s spot.

🪐 Teachers! Do we have the perfect field trip for you!
Join us for our annual School Concert, a musical experience for public, private, homeschooled and virtual learning students. ☄️This year we will present music that is truly out of this world, an extraordinary music program that explores earth and deep space, accompanied by multi-media videos and narrated by NASA Goddard.

🗓️ Choose the date that works for you - Wednesday, March 18, 2026 or Thursday, March 19, 2026. Choose the time that works best for you too: 10:00 AM or 11:30 AM.

🖐️ All tickets for students, teachers, and chaperones are $5. Financial assistance is available for Title I schools.

🎫 Reserve seats for your students now, only by calling our Box Office at 410-263-0907 or emailing [email protected]. Tickets are not available for purchase online.

09/16/2025

🪐 Teachers! Do we have the perfect field trip for you!
Join us for our annual School Concert, a musical experience for public, private, homeschooled and virtual learning students. ☄️This year we will present music that is truly out of this world, an extraordinary music program that explores earth and deep space, accompanied by multi-media videos and narrated by NASA Goddard.

🗓️ Choose the date that works for you - Wednesday, March 18, 2026 or Thursday, March 19, 2026. Choose the time that works best for you too: 10:00 AM or 11:30 AM.

🖐️ All tickets for students, teachers, and chaperones are $5. Financial assistance is available for Title I schools.

🎫 Reserve seats for your students now, only by calling our Box Office at 410-263-0907 or emailing [email protected]. Tickets are not available for purchase online.

09/12/2025

Yesterday evening our Board Chair Katie Edwards, MD, Executive Director Erica Bondarev Rapach, and Concertmaster Netanel Draiblate (Airline Violinist) attended the Annapolis Opera's Season Opening Black and White Gala in Annapolis. They had a wonderful time celebrating and supporting a fellow original Resident Company of Maryland Hall with the Opera's General Director Kathy Swekel and Artistic Director Craig Kier.

Photos: Erica Bondarev Rapach

09/11/2025

👏 We are pleased to announce that the following artists will join the A*O on stage in our 2025-26 season. Please give them a warm Annapolis welcome!

Katherine Ventura, Principal Harp
Kunjing Dai, Viola
Glen Kuenzi, Violin
Zoe Kushubar, Violin
Anna Luebke, Violin
Madalyn Navis, Violin

09/09/2025

Last Thursday, A*O violinists Rachel Stockton and Karin Kelleher performed for the unveiling of the Say My Name Memorial, an effort led by Friends of the Crownsville Patient Cemetery and others. The memorial is a permanent tribute to the more than 1,700 individuals who lived and died at Crownsville State Hospital, many of whom were laid to rest in unmarked graves.

The poignant and powerful occasion was attended by the tireless leader Janice Hayes-Williams, First Lady of Maryland Dawn Moore, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, and Annapolis Delegate Dylan Behler, among others, including A*O Executive Director Erica Bondarev-Rapach and Director of Community Engagement & Grants Julie Nolan.

The memorial, inscribed with the names of those once identified only by numbers, stands as a solemn recognition of their humanity, their dignity, and their rightful place in our collective memory. This project restores the identities of those buried in the Crownsville cemetery between 1912 and 1965 during an era of Jim Crow segregation and neglect.

The Say My Name Memorial was conceived by the Friends of Crownsville Hospital Patient Cemetery and is a core element of Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park, an initiative led by Anne Arundel County to honor the lives impacted by the institution’s complex legacy and promote healing, education, and reflection.

Photos: State of Maryland and Erica Bondarev-Rapach

09/02/2025

🎼✨ Because music belongs to everyone—including the next generation.

Thank you to audience volunteer Lily for her superstar performance borrowing the baton from Maestro José-Luis Novo to conduct the A*O for John Philip Sousa's "Liberty Bell March". ⭐ Could this be the start of a musical career?

Photo credit: ©️2025 Annapolis Symphony Orchestra by Richard Brown, all rights reserved.

09/01/2025

3:30 PM, 4:30 PM, 5:30 PM-

💫 What a night! What a crowd! 😍 We loved every moment of opening our 64th season with the community!

🥰 Thank you to Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks for a smooth event and The Arts Council of Anne Arundel County for your support.