Read season preview letter from Music Director, Betsy Burleigh...  (bottom of the page)

Derek Bermel: The Good Life
Commissioned for Pittsburgh's 250th Anniversary
October 17 & 19, 2008
Heinz Hall
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
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Junior Mendelssohn Choir - 2008 Fall Concert
November 23, 2008
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Upper St. Clair
Christine Frattare, Music Director and Conductor
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Handel: Messiah and Messiah Sing-Along
December 12 and 13, 2008 
Heinz Hall
Lawrence Loh, conductor
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Highmark Holiday Pops: Holiday Memories with the PSO 
December 17 - 21, 2008 
Heinz Hall
Daniel Meyer, conductor
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John Adams: On the Transmigration of Souls
January 17, 2009 
Heinz Hall
John Adams, conductor
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Orff: Carmina Burana 
Braunfels: Te Deum (excerpt)
February 20, 21 & 22, 2009 
Heinz Hall
Manfred Honeck, conductor
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Library of Congress "Home Concert"
February 15, 2009
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Upper St. Clair
Betsy Burleigh conducting MCP Chamber Choir
Works by:   Mendelssohn, Haydn, Handel, Herbert and a commission by James McMillan
MCP-sponsored concert

Library of Congress Concert
February 27, 2009
Library of Congress Concert Series
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Betsy Burleigh conducting MCP Chamber Choir
Works by:   Mendelssohn, Haydn, Handel, Herbert and a commission by James McMillan

Orff: Carmina Burana
March 7, 2009 (tentative)
Warner Theater, Erie PA
Daniel Meyer, conducting Erie Philharmonic

Rachmaninoff:"Spring"Cantata  
April 3, 4 & 5, 2009  
Heinz Hall
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
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Rachmaninoff: Vespers
May 17, 2009
St. Paul Cathedral
Betsy Burleigh, conductor
MCP-sponsored concert

Mahler:  Symphony No. 2, "The Resurrection"
June 12 & 14, 2009 
Heinz Hall
Manfred Honeck, conductor
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Concert schedule and details subject to change.

Dear Friends of the Mendelssohn Choir:

I’m delighted to announce our 2008-09 concert season. As you will soon see, we look forward to an exceptional year and a fitting musical celebration of a century of song!

We start the weekend of Oct. 17 with the premiere of a Derek Bermel commission celebrating Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary.  Known for combining facets of world music, funk and jazz into traditionally classical performing forces, Bermel is setting an original libretto by Wendy Walters.   The conductor will be Leonard Slatkin, in his first appearance as principal guest conductor of the PSO.  Bringing new music into the world is always exciting, and the fact that the Pittsburgh Symphony specifically requested that the work include us is a real honor.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving will feature the Junior Mendelssohn Choir in their annual Fall Concert.  We all look forward to hearing these talented 8th-to12th-grade student musicians of under the direction of Christine Hestwood Frattare.

In December we will once again usher in the holiday season with Handel's Messiah an including the popular singalong on Saturday evening.  We'll round out the celebration with the PSO's Highmark Holiday Pops concerts.

On the weekend of Jan. 16, 2009 we will perform On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams, the PSO’s composer of the year.  This deeply moving piece was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic as a response to 9/11, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003.  I am particularly excited that John Adams, one of America’s most admired and respected composers, will be conducting this work himself.

We will re-visit of our old friend, Orff's Carmina Burana, the weekend of Feb. 20.  This will be our public debut with the PSO’s new maestro, Manfred Honeck, whom we had the pleasure of meeting at a Faure rehearsal this spring.  I look forward to his taking this beloved masterwork to higher and higher levels of expression!

One of the most thrilling opportunities for our centennial year is an invitation to perform on the Library of Congress  Concert Series.  We will be traveling to Washington, D.C. on Feb. 27, and for this very special occasion we will be commissioning a work from Andrew Rindfleisch.  The rest of the program?  2009 marks not only our 100th birthday, but significant anniversaries of the following composers:  Mendelssohn, Haydn, Handel, Victor Herbert and James MacMillan.  I hope to include a sampling from each of them.  And there’s even more-- we plan to produce a live recording of the event!

We then gear up for a fabulous April, when the PSO is sponsoring a Rachmaninoff festival.  We will sing his little known Spring cantata on the festival’s opening weekend (April 3), conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.  Six weeks later, we'll conclude our own Rachmaninoff celebration, singing the magnificent Rachmaninoff Vespers in the glorious St. Paul cathedral on May 17.  I greatly look forward to conducting this striking a cappella masterpiece.

We end the season with the magnificent Mahler Symphony No. 2, The Resurrection under Maestro Honeck the weekend of June 12.  This is a choral finale like no other, a fabulous close to a fabulous season.

Wow!  Two premieres, a major 21st century work, the Rachmaninoff  Vespers, Mahler 2, revisiting old friends Orff and Handel, a national capital tour, a recording, and embarking on relationships with two new PSO maestros—I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our 100th anniversary.  

Can’t wait!
Betsy