Philadelphia Youth Orchestra - 87th Anniversary Opening Concert

The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra opens its 87th season at Marian Anderson Hall in The Kimmel Center on Sunday, November 22, at 3 PM. It's a double milestone: the start of a landmark new season and the 30th anniversary of Maestro Louis Scaglione with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute. Scaglione conducts the whole program.

The afternoon is built around two guest soloists. Organist Peter Richard Conte, the Wanamaker Grand Court Organist, takes the lead on two pieces: Richard Strauss' Festival Prelude and Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, better known as the 'Organ Symphony'. The Saint-Saëns is a big one—the organ enters in the final movement and carries the symphony to its close, so it's a piece that really lets the instrument stretch out. Violinist Michael Ludwig, former Associate Concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra, joins in for Barber's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

Between the organ and the violin, the program covers a lot of ground. You've got the Strauss prelude, the Barber concerto, and the Saint-Saëns symphony, all led by Scaglione. It's a full afternoon of orchestral music, and with the organ taking such a prominent role, it's a bit more than your usual youth orchestra opener.

The concert is at Marian Anderson Hall, inside The Kimmel Center at 300 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19102. It starts at 3 PM and runs about an hour and 45 minutes.