The fretless neck is nickel-plated or stainless steel, producing a “sliding,” glissando sound that approximates the human voice. Bearing four to six melodic strings and several sympathetic, drone strings, it is played with a plectrum. The ASO is focused on broadening its musical sources and this fall will offer performances featuring the sarod, a stringed instrument from the Indian subcontinent that is as popular as the sitar.

Making her debut with the orchestra is Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, who will play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. Guest conductor Krzysztof Urbański will lead the chorus and the Georgia Boy Choir in March 2024 performances of perhaps the most recognizable choral piece of the last century, “Carmina Burana.” She will conduct the ASO Chorus in evenings of Brahms and Rachmaninov in November, and performances of Verdi’s “Requiem” in February. Stutzmann is a world-class contralto who began her career as a vocalist. The evenings will include Simon’s “brea(d)th” and “Motherboxx Connection,” and Uzee Brown’s “We Shall Overcome.” Jonathan Taylor Rush conducts. Stutzmann, only the second woman to lead a top 25 orchestra, will focus on literature from the Romantic composers, including an all-Strauss program on April 11, 2024, featuring eminent soprano Renée Fleming singing “Four Last Songs,” “Four Orchestral Songs,” and selections from “Der Rosenkavalier” and “Capriccio.”įormer Atlantan and Grammy-winning composer Carlos Simon curates concerts in February to celebrate Black History Month, featuring the glee clubs of Morehouse College and Spelman College, as well as poet and spoken-word performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Spring from the four seasons piano