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Season 2022-23: Escape to New Realms

October 1, 2022 @ 7:30 pm May 13, 2023 @ 9:30 pm MDT

22-23 Escape to New Realms Season Banner Fort Collins Symphony Season

Who doesn’t love a chance to escape: to walk away from the ordinary, the mundane, the everyday? A flight through the portals of music – the art of the air – can whisk you off to unexpected places, evoke memories, provide calm spaces, stimulate the mind, and create wonderful flights of fancy.

Your Fort Collins Symphony invites you to unlock a wealth of music genres, eras, composers, and artists through Season 2022-23: Escape to New Realms.

Available year-round, your experience includes Signature Concerts, educational lectures, Pops performances, city-wide community events, family concerts, and special festivals.

So, are you ready to escape? You hold the key. We look forward to your company on this season’s musical adventures!

– Maestro Wes Kenney, FCS Music Director


Get your tickets at LCTix.com


“Escape to Enchantment”
Signature Concert No. 1

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October 1, 2022, 7:30 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

Lyric Fanfare for the National Anthem – Ethan Boxley
Ostinato Fantastico – James David
Symphony in D Minor – Cesar Franck
Encuentros (Encounters) – Samuel Zyman
Capriccio Espagnole Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

To open the 2022-2023 Season, your Fort Collins Symphony presents two recently-commissioned pieces: Lyric Fanfare for the National Anthem by Fort Collins native Ethan Boxley and Ostinato Fantastico by CSU professor James David. Cesar Franck’s meditative Symphony in D Minor contrasts beautifully with living composer Samuel Zyman’s colorful and rhythmic Encuentros. Spanish folk melodies provide the inspiration for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s exuberant Capriccio Espagnole.

Featured Violinist: Byron Hitchcock, FCS Concertmaster finalist


“Escape to the Dungeon”
Fall Pops Concert

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October 27, 2022, 7:00 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

NEW this Fall: the Fort Collins Symphony presents a Halloween-themed Fall Pops Concert. Join the fun for a spooky and thrilling evening with live orchestral music from classical, Hollywood, and Broadway scores.


“Escape to New Realms”
Signature Concert No. 2

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November 5, 2022, 7:30 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

Overture to the School for Scandal – Samuel Barber
Isle of the Dead – Sergei Rachmaninov
The Battle for the Ballot – Stacy Garrop
Firebird Suite – Igor Stravinsky

Isle of the Dead, Sergei Rachmaninov’s dramatic tone poem was inspired by Swiss symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin’s painting of the same name. Living American composer Stacy Garrop’s impassioned Battle for the Ballot commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote. The evening concludes with the power and magic of Igor Stravinsky’s dramatic Firebird Suite.


“Escape to the Zoo”
Family Concert

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January 22, 2023, 3:00 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

This fun and whimsical live concert is for the young and the young-at-heart!

Featuring Gregory Smith’s Zoo Song and Camille Saint-Saën’s Carnival of the Animals.

Concert Sponsor: Friends of the Symphony.


“Escape to Delight”
Signature Concert No. 3

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February 4, 2023, 7:30 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

Symphony No. 1 – Joseph Bologne
Symphony No. 103, Drum Roll – Joseph Haydn
Piano Concerto No. 24 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
– Featuring pianist Avery Gagliano
Bal Masqué – Amy Beach

This evening’s performance includes Guadeloupean Creole classical composer Joseph Bologne’s dance-like Symphony No. 1, Joseph Haydn’s fanciful Symphony No. 103, Drum Roll, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s precocious Piano Concerto No. 24, and American composer Amy Beach’s delightful waltz, Bal Masqué.

Featured Pianist: Avery Gagliano

Featured Violinist: Heather MacArthur, FCS Concertmaster finalist


“Escape to Reflection”
Signature Concert No. 4

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March 4, 2023, 7:30 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

African Suite – Fela Sowande
Elegy (for those we lost) – Aaron Jay Kernis
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge – Benjamin Britten
Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 11 – Antonio Vivaldi

This performance features Nigerian composer Chief Olufela Obafunmilayo “Fela” Sowande’s nostalgic African Suite. Living American composer Aaron Jay Kernis’ Elegy (for those we lost) was written in memory of the victims of Covid-19. In 1937, Benjamin Britten’s Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge was written as a character portrait of his revered teacher. Antonio Vivaldi’s bold Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 11 is a virtuoso work for three string players and orchestra.

Featured Violinist: Evan De Long, FCS Concertmaster finalist


Escape to the Movies:
“The History of Music in Film”
Spring Pops Concert

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March 24, 2023, 7:00 PM
Timberline Church, Main Auditorium

You won’t want to miss Reel Music: The History of Music in Film. Your FCS will take a deep dive into the role orchestras have played in film from the silent era to today with a live performance.


“Escape to Hope”
Signature Concert No. 5

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May 13, 2023, 7:30 PM
Lincoln Center, Main Stage

Global Warming – Michael Abels
Nocturnes – Claude Debussy
Symphony No. 5 – Sergei Prokofiev

Emmy-nominated American composer Michael Abels wrote Global Warming to describe the warming of international relations in 1990. The composition explores the similarities he heard in the music of various cultures. Claude Debussy’s Nocturnes was inspired by symbolist poet Henri de Régnier and conjures images of clouds, festivals, and enchanting sirens. The season closes with Ukrainian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, which he wrote to glorify “the grandeur of the human spirit.”


Ticketing and Details:

Lincoln Center Box Office:

Online: LCTix.com

By phone: 970.221.6730
In-person: 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins, CO 80521
Tuesday – Saturday, 12 noon – 6 PM

Get your tickets at LCTix.com

In-Person and Live-Streamed Concerts:

Your FCS performs our Signature Concerts on the Lincoln Center Main Stage. Because we understand that not everyone can join us in-person for every concert, we offer you the opportunity to select a live and/or live-streamed experience for Signature Concerts. Choose in-person or live-stream for the night of the concert.

Ticket Prices:

Note: Ticket prices and subscriber benefits for Season 2022-23 have changed.
Please see below for details.

Season Subscription Tickets: $150-325 per person (see benefits below)
Individual Signature Concert Tickets: $25-67 ($10 Student Tickets with valid Student ID)
Pops Concert Tickets: $32 adult, $12 youth and student (with valid Student ID)
Ticket Bundle: Choose 3 concerts at discount (Signature and/or Pops)

Individual Tickets:

Category 1: $67
Category 2: $61
Category 3: $56
Category 4: $38
Category 5: $25

Signature Livestream: $25
Pops Concert: $32
Student: $10

Subscriber Discount:

Category 1: $60
Category 2: $55
Category 3: $50
Category 4: $34
Category 5: $25

Signature Livestream: $10
Pops Concert: $25
Student $10

FCS Seating Map
Lincoln Center Seating Chart
(Click to enlarge)

Internet and phone fees apply to purchases. For details, visit LCTix.com/Box-Office.

Subscriber Benefits:

Along with early access to tickets and reserved seating, season subscribers receive:

– NEW: 10% discount on seat categories 1-4 for subscription and additional Signature Concert tickets, 20% discount for Pops Concerts,
– NEW: Two free Signature Concert vouchers to share with family and/or friends,
– Invitations to free “Music’s in the Air” Summer Garden Concerts,
– NEW: Early access to purchase this summer’s Beethoven Festival Concert (August 12 at Timberline Church)
– Free transfer of in-person tickets to live-stream and additional live-stream tickets for $10

Subscription prices:

Season Subscriptions include tickets to all five Signature Concerts and the Spring Pops Concert.

Category 1: $325 per person
Category 2: $300 per person
Category 3: $275 per person
Category 4: $195 per person
Category 5: $150 per person

New season subscriptions are available June 15, 2022. For more information, please visit LCtix.com/FCS-Season or call the box office at 970.221.6730.


Events: Learn More!

Learn more about the music on each Signature Concert by joining us for Composer Talks, Open Rehearsals, and Pre-Concert Talks the week of the concert. See the individual concert page for more details.

Composer Talks

Wednesday at 12 noon
at the Old Town Library
Free

Join CSU professor Dr. K. Dawn Grapes on the Wednesday prior to most Signature concerts for an entertaining and informative lecture about the upcoming featured composers. Light refreshments. Sponsored by the Friends of the Symphony.

Open Rehearsals

Thursday at 7:00 PM
at the Lincoln Center
Free

Learn firsthand what it takes for an orchestra to bring live music to the stage. Houselights remain on during this comfortable preview of each upcoming Signature concert. The rehearsal closes to the public at 8:30 p.m. intermission. Sponsored by Bank of Colorado.

Pre-Concert Talks, “Maestro’s Musings”

Saturday at 6:30 PM
at the Lincoln Center
included with ticket purchase

Prior to each Signature concert, join Maestro Wes Kenney for his musings on what you are about to hear.

Program Guides and Notes

Detailed information about repertoire, guest artists, composers, music history, news, and more will be available on the FCS website prior to each concert. Printed programs, digital programs, and concert supertitles will provide information during the concerts.


Get your tickets at LCTix.com