Symphony Happy Hour concert with cocktails where the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Samuel Hollister, plays Debussy's 'La Mer'.
Samuel Hollister leads the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra through Claude Debussy's La Mer at Powell Hall on Wednesday, April 21, 2027, at 6:30 PM. It's part of the SLSO's Playlist: Symphony Happy Hour series, which they've built for the classical curious and for people who just want to share their love of music.
The format is a one-hour show with no intermission. You'll find signature cocktails and mocktails waiting, and the conductor spends the hour explaining the piece's form, harmony, and historical context, with the orchestra playing demonstrations along the way. After the music stops, there's a chance to mingle with the musicians. The whole thing is designed to pull back the curtain on how a piece like La Mer actually works, rather than just letting it wash over you.
La Mer is one of Debussy's most famous works, and the program describes it as a dive into his "breathtaking, ever-moving, and wondrous sea." Debussy himself put it this way: "The sea... has shown me all her moods. Music is a free art, boundless as the elements, the wind, the sky, and the sea." Hearing it in a hall like Powell, with the orchestra right there, is the best way to catch those shifts in mood.
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When the concert ends, the night keeps going with a post-concert DJ set by DJ Stazi. So you get the full symphony, the breakdown of how it's put together, and a party to follow. It starts at 6:30 PM at Powell Hall in St. Louis.
