JACKSON, Michigan – Jackson Symphony Orchestra Music Director Matthew Aubin chose the word “rejoice” as the title of the JSO’s 2021-22 Signature Series for a reason.
Everyone from the JSO staff to the musicians to those from Jackson and beyond who attend JSO events are looking forward to the end of silence that has loomed since the COVID-19 pandemic hit more than a year ago. With that in mind, the name of the Signature Series – “Rejoice: Reuniting Through the Joy of Music” – came to be.
“We realize that you can’t take the arts and the life-affirming feeling that you get from live, in-person events for granted,” said Steve Trosin, the JSO’s Director of Business and Operations. “We are all extremely eager to be together and exchange the energy between the performer and audience, to get those goosebumps on your arms that you couldn’t get on video no matter how good the experience was. We can’t wait to experience that again.”
That experience seems to be within reach now that season tickets are available for both the Signature Series (Classical Concerts) and Music On Tap (non-classical, touring artists), two series put on by the JSO that begin in October.
Aubin has created five concerts that will pair great works by composers like Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky alongside underrepresented music by several female composers and composers of color from past and present. The JSO has commissioned three composers, including Marcus Norris, a 2009 Jackson High School graduate, to write new works for the symphony. Norris will write a piece for the final concert series, “Chopin, Price & Norris.” The “Romantic Rachmaninoff” concert in March will feature Inon Barnatan, one of the most admired pianists of his generation, as a soloist.
Across the Genres with Warp Trio, a talented group that fuses contemporary classical music with rock and jazz, will kick off the Music On Tap series. It will mark the first live JSO event since The Music of Harry Potter was held Feb. 29, 2020. Music On Tap will also feature a concert by Joshua Davis, a talented Michigan-based singer-songwriter who is best known for being a finalist on The Voice, and a comedy show by Heywood Banks, who’s also from Michigan and is a regular on The Bob & Tom Show.
