This enchanting concert features selections from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, performed by principal dancers from the San Diego Ballet Company who share the stage with the symphony. With dreamlike melodies layered atop a romantic fairy tale, Tchaikovsky once said The Sleeping Beauty was “the best of all my compositions.” We couldn’t agree more! The Orchestra will round out the program with Mozart’s Symphony No.39, as well as feature MASO’s 2025 (Junior Division) Young Artist Competition Winner, Josephine Grayl.
Originally 4 hours long, The Sleeping Beauty is Tchaikovsky’s longest ballet—don’t worry, we aren’t planning on doing the whole 4 hours for this concert. Instead, we’ll be doing about 40 minutes of selections from the ballet, that still serves to give a full picture of the story. From Carabosse’s curse on Aurora, to her awakening with true love’s kiss, to the final celebration with various fairytale characters, it’s set to be a magical tale from start to finish.
The first half of this concert will feature guest artist Josephine Grayl on the double bass. Josephine is the 2025 MASO Young Artists Competition winner in the Junior Division. This competition provides rising young musicians from across the state with a chance to compete for the rare opportunity to perform as soloists with one or more Montana orchestras. We haven’t had a double bass soloist in over 20 years, so we are excited to welcome her on stage with the Billings Symphony Orchestra! She’ll be performing Giovanni Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto No. 2, Ms. Grayl’s performance of this piece will be a Billings Symphony premiere.
To round out the evening, we’ll be performing Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, the first of a miraculous trio of symphonies which Mozart completed in two months during the summer of 1788. This collection of symphonies were the last ones Mozart ever wrote. It’s often speculated that these three symphonies weren’t performed during Mozart’s lifetime, some go as far as to say that he never intended for them to be performed to begin with. Either way, we are grateful to be performing them now and the night’s performance of Symphony No. 39 with its lyrical and autumnal mellowness is a perfect pair to the ballet.
The Magic of Sleeping Beauty is scheduled for Saturday, January 24, at the Alberta Bair Theater. The performance begins at 7:30PM, doors open at 6:30PM, Pre-Concert Cues begin at 6:40PM. To purchase tickets, call 406-256-6052 or visit www.billingssymphony.org.
