Delaware, OH - The Central Ohio Symphony closes out its 44th season with a bang, literally and figuratively. When the ensemble takes the stage at 3 p.m., May 7, Music Director Jaime Morales-Matos will be conducting, and three guest artists will perform a program featuring a choral work, a concerto for two timpanists and one of the great Beethoven symphonies.

Night Songs, by Ohio composer H. Leslie Adams, is part of the Symphony’s ongoing Play It Again project, made possible all season by a PNC Foundation grant through the PNC Arts Alive initiative. PNC Arts Alive is a multi-year initiative of the PNC Foundation that challenges visual and performing arts organizations to put forth their best, most original thinking to expand audience participation and engagement.

“We know a thriving arts scene is critical to the long-term economic vitality of our communities," said Mary Auch, PNC regional president for Columbus. "As a national main street bank, we are committed to investing in cultural vibrancy in each of our local markets and advocating for engagement in the arts more broadly as powerful avenues for advancing education, diversity and inclusion and economic development. The Central Ohio Symphony is well deserving of our PNC Arts Alive grant."

Local soprano Angel Tyler will sing the Adams work. Adams, an Ohio composer, wrote Night Songs to feature six poems by African American poets of the 20th century, all of whom had connections to the Harlem Renaissance, the powerful cultural and intellectual movement in the African American New York community between World War I and World War II.

“Performing Night Songs, with its mix of poetry and instruments, is part of our continuing drive to blend classical music with new works. Night Songs is not performed often. Angel is the ideal vocalist to open our eyes and ears in new ways,” said Symphony Executive Director Warren W. Hyer.

Philip Glass’s Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists will be performed by John Kilkenny, a noted percussionist and timpanist who has performed the Glass concerto numerous times. The second artist will be the orchestra’s timpanist, Executive Director Warren Hyer. Twelve timpani are needed to perform the music, and all will be featured at the front of the stage.  

Kilkenny and I share a unique connection, said Hyer. “We both are Executive Directors of symphonies. John is the head of the Chattanooga Symphony and, of course, I am here. We’re guessing this is the first time the Glass concerto will be performed featuring two Executive Directors as guest artists.”

The concert will conclude with Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, which Beethoven sometimes called his “most excellent” work. Many music critics agree, making it a great ending to the season.

Any youth 18 and under can present their library card and get free admission to the concert, as well as a half-price ticket for an accompanying adult through a partnership with the Delaware County District, Sunbury Community, and Ashley Wornstaff libraries to provide free tickets to young people.

We want you to feel safe at our concerts, masks are welcome if you wish to wear one. The Symphony asks concertgoers to stay home if they are not feeling well.

A free shuttle service will begin one hour before the performance and end one hour after, from the parking lots on S. Henry Street at Selby Stadium to the rear lower door of Gray Chapel. The shuttle service is funded by a grant from SourcePoint.

For more information, visit the Symphony website at www.centralohiosymphony.org or call 740-362-1799 to order tickets and for more concert information.

Ticket prices are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, and $6 for students of all ages and can be purchased at the Symphony office, 24 E. Winter Street in downtown Delaware or at the box office the afternoon of the concert.