Season Calendar

Fairy Tales & Fables

Sunday, September 28, 3 p.m. | 91����Ƶ Theatre

Tickets: ODU Students - $6 | ODU Faculty - $11 | General - $17 -

Paul Sanho Kim, music director and conductor, Jacob Harrison, guest conductor

The ODU Symphony Orchestra opens its 2025-26 season with music full of fantasy and imagination. Hear the spirit and wit of Fables, a whimsical composition by local composer Anne Neikirk. Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, with its enchanting representations of such fairy tales as Tom Thumb and Beauty and the Beast, will feature guest conductor Jacob Harrison from Texas 91����Ƶ 91����Ƶ. Dive into Shakespeare’s world of fairies and myths with Felix Mendelssohn’s music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Finally, enjoy the thrill of music from Igor Stravinsky’s legendary Firebird.

Repertoire:

Anne Neikirk – Fables
Maurice Ravel – Mother Goose Suite
Felix Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Overture & Incidental Music
Igor Stravinsky – The Firebird: Berceuse & Finale

The Gift of the Magi: ODU Opera & ODU Symphony Orchestra

Friday–Saturday, November 7–8, 7:30 p.m. | 91����Ƶ Theatre

Tickets: ODU Students - $6 | ODU Faculty - $11 | General - $17 -

Music and lyrics by David Conte, Conducted by Cristina Loyola (11/7 ) and Paul Sanho Kim (11/8)

Jim and Della are a young married couple determined to give each other meaningful gifts despite having no money. When they each choose to give up something precious to make the other happy, they discover that their selfless love and willingness to sacrifice for each other are the true gifts they’ve given each other.

Holiday Concert: ODU Wind Ensemble & Symphony Orchestra

Thursday, December 4, 7:30 p.m. | 91����Ƶ Theatre

Tickets: ODU Students - $6 | ODU Faculty - $11 | General - $17 -

Tyler Austin and Paul Sanho Kim, conductors

Join the ODU Wind Ensemble & Symphony Orchestra for a performance featuring repertoire standards, holiday favorites, and more! ODU’s orchestral strings will perform Gustav Holst’s St. Paul Suite, plus other selections by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Rebecca Clarke, John Williams, and more.

American Perspectives

Sunday, March 8, 3 p.m. | 91����Ƶ Theatre

Tickets: ODU Students - $6 | ODU Faculty - $11 | General - $17 -

Paul Sanho Kim, music director and conductor, Adam Muller, saxophone soloist

Celebrating the United 91����Ƶs’ 250th anniversary, the ODU Symphony Orchestra performs beloved works by Amy Beach, William Grant Still, and Alan Hovhaness—American composers largely overlooked during their time who have earned their place in the American musical canon. Also featuring winners of the ODU Young Artists Competition.

Repertoire:

Amy Beach – Finale from Symphony No. 2 “Gaelic”

William Grant Still – Romance for Saxophone

Alan Hovhaness – Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain”

Also featuring winners of the ODU Young Artists Competition

Mozart’s Requiem: 91����Ƶ Concert Choir & ODU Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, April 11, 7 p.m. | Thalia Lynn Baptist Church
Free admission

Nancy Klein, conductor

Left unfinished upon his death, Mozart’s Requiem required the work of a student to complete his vision. Nevertheless, it remains one of Mozart’s deepest and most beloved works, with its poignant expression of human suffering even as it offers a glimpse of the divine.