CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia closes its 50th Anniversary Season on Saturday, April 26, 7:30pm, at Old Cabell Hall on the Grounds of the University of Virginia and Sunday, April 27, 3:30pm, at Charlottesville High School’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center.  

Hailed as “a sensitive and poetic player’’ with “gorgeous expressivity,” Anna Han helps bring the 50th Anniversary Season to a rousing conclusion with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor.  Huge in scale and rich in emotion, No. 3 is often called the Mt. Everest of the piano concerto repertoire.

Music Director Benjamin Rous’s program opens with Claude Debussy’s Clair de lune, translated as “Moonlight” in an orchestral arrangement of Debussy’s best-loved piano piece.

Continuing the cosmic journey, trailblazing Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho was inspired to write the ethereal Asteroid 4179: Toutatis by the Celtic god Toutatis and a large asteroid with an unusual shape and complex rotation classified as a near-Earth object.

Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances create an exotic scene from his opera, Prince Igor.  
Fans of the Tony Award-winning 1953 Broadway musical Kismet know it better for the romantic ballad “Stranger in Paradise”.

The March concerts are sponsored in part by Pamela and William Calary.   Anna Han’s appearance has been underwritten by a generous gift from Virginia Cenedella.

Major season support has also been provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

Prior to the April 27th concert, chamber music students from the Youth Orchestras of Central Virginia will perform in the lobby of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center.  YOCVA was founded in 1979 as a Saturday morning outreach activity of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia by its first music director, Douglas Hargrave.  Since then, it has grown into a full-season symphony orchestra experience for elementary, middle and high school students from seven Virginia counties.

Benjamin Rous, Conductor
Anna Han, Piano

Program:
DEBUSSY — Clair de lune
SAARIAHO — Asteroid 4179
BORODIN — Polovstian Dances
RACHMANINOFF — Piano Concerto No. 3

To view the page for the 04/27/25 performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, please click here. 

Free parking is available in the UVA Central Grounds Parking Garage, located on Emmet Street South on Saturday nights and at Charlottesville High School’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center on Sunday afternoons.  The Charlottesville Free Trolley stops at McCormick Road near the UVA Amphitheater, in close proximity to Old Cabell Hall.  Both venues are wheelchair accessible.                         

Single tickets are $10-$53 for adults and $10 for students.  UVA students may request one complimentary ticket in advance.  Tickets may be purchased at the University of Virginia Arts Box Office, (434) 924-3376, 12:00-5:00pm, Tuesday through Friday in the lobby of the UVA Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road, or online at www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu.

All University of Virginia employees (faculty and staff of all UVA departments and professional schools) are entitled to a 20% discount on tickets to individual performances.  This offer does not apply to subscriptions, the December Family Holiday Concerts, “Pops at the Paramount” or previously purchased tickets.

"Know before you go" Answers to frequently asked questions about Charlottesville Symphony Concerts.

Click here to add the 4/26 performance to your Google Calendar

Click here to add the 4/27 performance to your Google Calendar

All artists, programs, and venues are subject to change.