Concerts in the Garden returns. Here is the lineup for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

By Jeremy Hallock

Updated January 12, 2022 3:42 PM

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 2022-23 live performance schedule includes the return of Concerts in the Garden after a two-year hiatus. There are also one-night only concerts, a Gala Concert with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and two new collaborations with the Kimbell Art Museum.

The schedule was announced Wednesday.

With 2021 artistic appointments, including new music director Robert Spano and principal guest conductor Kevin John Edusei, the season features 11 Symphonic Series concerts. The series begins this fall with “A New Musical Era Begins: Brahms, Beethoven, and Schubert,” running from Sept. 9-11. With Spano conducting and Jorge Federico Osario on piano, works include Beethoven’s piano concerto, “Emperor,” and Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony.”

With Edo de Waart conducting and superstar pianist Joyce Yang, “Rachmanminoff’s Thirds” is Oct. 14-16. An all-Russian program, “A Trip to St. Petersburg: Glinka, Glazunov, and Tchaikovsky,” is Nov. 18-20 and violinist “Gil Shaham Plays Tchaikovsky” next year from March 10-12. FWSO will also collaborate with Texas Ballet Theater for “A Night at the Ballet” from April 21-23, 2023.

With eight concerts, the Pops Series includes popular genres like soul, with “Queens of Soul” from Sept. 2-4, and rock, with “Twist & Shout: The Music of The Beatles” from Feb. 3-5, 2023. Popular globetrotting world music act Pink Martini will also return next year for shows from April 28-30.

FWSO also has two new initiatives with the Kimbell. Chamber Music Series at The Kimbell offers three intimate performances at the museum with music director Robert Spano and FWSO musicians. “Robert Spano Performs Chamber Music” is this year on Nov. 13, and next year “From Despair to Hope: Messiaen and Mozart” is March 19, followed by “Three Chamber Music Masters: Mozart Poulenc, and Lutosławski” on May 14. Focused on lectures, the Meet the Composer Series will launch this year at the museum on Oct. 13 with Douglas J. Cuomo and continue in 2023 with Stacy Garrop on Jan. 5, Robert Greenberg on Feb. 2, and Brian Raphael Nabors.

The 2022-223 season also includes three Family Series concerts, beginning with “Dancing with the FWSO Stars!” on Sept. 17 this year and wrapping up in 2023 with “Wild Symphony” on March 4.

In addition to Yo-Yo Ma, special concerts include “New Year’s Eve: Abba The Concert” on Dec. 31 and “Edusei Conducts: An Evening of Brahms, Schumann, and Howard” at Texas Christian University’s Van Cliburn Concert Hall on Feb. 11.

And finally, Concerts in the Garden returns to Fort Worth Botanic Garden this summer with 12 shows including Asleep at the Wheel on June 16 and Sarah Jaffe on June 19.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra schedule

Symphonic Season

A New Musical Era Begins: Brahms, Beethoven, and Schubert — Sept. 9–11, 2022
Rachmaninoff’s Thirds — Oct. 14–16, 2022
A Trip to Harlem: Bernstein, Ellington, Gershwin, and Douglas J. Cuomo — Oct. 28–30, 2022
A Trip to St. Petersburg: Glinka, Glazunov, and Tchaikovsky — Nov. 18–20, 2022
Wagner Highlights — Nov. 18–20, 2022
Classical and Neo-Classical: Prokofiev, Beethoven, Mozart, and Stacey Garrop — Jan. 6–7, 2023
Gil Shaham Plays Tchaikovsky: Mahler and Tchaikovsky — March 10–12, 2023
Jake Fridkis in Concert: Schumann, Reinecke, and Liszt — March 24–26, 2023
A Night at the Ballet: Brian Raphael Nabors, Humperdinck, Griffes, Ravel, and Stravinsky — April 21–23, 2023
Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Strauss, Saint-Säens, and Elgar — May 5–7, 2023
Haydn: The Creation — May 19–21, 2023

Pops Season

National Geographic Symphony for Our World — Aug. 26–28, 2022
Queens of Soul – Sept. 2–4, 2022
Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration — Oct. 21–23, 2022
Home for the Holidays — Nov. 25–27, 2022
Star Wars: A New Hope — Dec. 16–18, 2022
Twist & Shout: The Music of the Beatles — Feb. 3–5, 2023
Dancing in the Street: The Music of Motown — March 3–5, 2023
Pink Martini — April 28–30, 2023

Chamber Music Series

Robert Spano Performs Chamber Music — Nov. 13, 2022
From Despair to Hope: Messiaen and Mozart — March 19, 2023
Three Chamber Music Masters: Mozart, Poulenc, and Lutosławski — May 14, 2023

Meet the Composer Series

Composer Douglas J. Cuomo — Oct. 13, 2022
Composer Stacy Garrop — Jan. 5, 2023
Musicologist Robert Greenberg — Feb. 2, 2023
Composer Brian Raphael Nabors — April 20, 2023

Family Series

Dancing with the FWSO Stars! — Sept. 17, 2022
Heroes at the Symphony — Feb. 4, 2023
Wild Symphony — March 4, 2023

Special Concerts and Gala

Handel’s Messiah — Dec. 10, 2022
New Year’s Eve: ABBA The Concert — Dec. 31, 2022
Edusei Conducts: An Evening of Brahms, Schumann, and Howard — Feb. 11, 2023
Annual Gala Concert and Dinner with Yo-Yo Ma — Feb. 25, 2023
Three American Tenors — May 13, 2023
Edusei Conducts: An Evening of Kodály, Mozart, and Brahms — June 2, 2023