The Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra conducted by Thomas O’Connor. Courtesy/SFPM

Steinway Artist Melissa Marse at the piano. Courtesy/SFPM

There will be two performances: 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21.

Tickets ($20, $35, $45, $65 } are available at:

• Santa Fe Pro Musica Box Office at 505.988.4640, ext. 1000;
• Tickets Santa Fe at The Lensic at 505.988.1234; and
• santafepromusica.com

Discounts for students, teachers, groups, and families are available exclusively through the Santa Fe Pro Musica Box Office.

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37:

During a rehearsal when Beethoven first heard Mozart’s revolutionary K. 491 concerto, he exclaimed to his colleague Herr Cramer, “Ah, we shall never be able to do anything like this!” That didn’t stop him, but instead provided inspiration and motivation. Beethoven’s third piano concerto shows a keen awareness of Mozart’s K. 491 concerto. Both are in the same unusual key of C minor and share themes, details, musical treatments and conceptions.

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67:

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is one of classical music’s most popular and recognizable works partly because of the famous four-note motif with which it opens; a tiny motif of great power! Ever since Beethoven composed the symphony, commentators have attempted to give that motif some extra-musical significance. Beethoven’s friend Anton Schindler, presumably quoting the composer, said it represented “Fate knocking at the door.” Carl Czerny, one of Beethoven’s students, claimed “the little pattern of notes had come to Beethoven from a little bird’s song [specifically, Picidae, northern flicker, or “yellowhammer”] heard as he walked in the Prater Park in Vienna.” 

Read more about the concert and these pieces at https:////santafepromusicablog.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/beethoven-santa-fe-pro-musicas-33rd-season-opening/

Thomas O’Connor, Santa Fe Pro Musica conductor and music director, and special guest (and Beethoven scholar) John Clubbe will present a “behind the scenes” discussion of the music one hour prior to each concert at the Lensic Performing Arts Center free to ticket holders.

Pianist Melissa Marse performs extensively worldwide and in American venues including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Pierpont Morgan Library, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and the Gardner Museum. Her Carnegie Weill debut recital (with the Lincoln Piano trio) was presented by the late Isaac Stern in 2001.

Additionally, she has been a returning guest artist for CarnegieKids, and was music director, coach, and pianist for the Metropolitan Opera’s Growing Up With Opera.

She collaborates with members of the New York Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, London Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony, and for three years has played in the Mark O’Connor Piano Trio. Learn more at www.melissamarse.com.

Santa Fe Pro Musica, founded in 1980, is a non-profit performing arts organization dedicated to inspiring and educating audiences of all ages through the performance of great music.  Pro Musica performs a varied repertoire, covering four centuries of music on modern and baroque instruments, including works for chamber orchestra, small ensemble and large-scale works for orchestra and chorus. 

In 2008, Pro Musica’s recording of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (chamber arrangement by Schoenberg) was nominated for a GRAMMY® award in the classical category of Best Small Ensemble Performance.

In addition to gaining national recognition over its 32 years for its artistry in performance, Santa Fe Pro Musica offers some of the most distinguished educational opportunities in northern New Mexico, reaching thousands of students every year with a Youth Concert series, a team-building, ensemble-training program, and a master class series for New Mexico School for the Arts students.

For more information, visit www.santafepromusica.com.