The 2024-2025 Season Announcement
A very exciting season is in store for you! Save the dates!
Season Subscriptions will be available for renewal and sale starting on July 1, 2024.

The Next Chapter of the Canton Symphony Orchestra Story

We are thrilled to share with you the 2024-2025 season: A Season of Firsts! The biggest first to celebrate is Matthew’s inaugural season as Music Director and the beginning of the next chapter in our orchestra’s history. One of the ways we are doing this is by featuring at least one “No. 1” on every MasterWorks concert (other than the “costumes encouraged” Star Wars concert in October!). These first symphonies and concertos left a great impact on our orchestral landscape, and we know that they will move, delight, and inspire us as a community once again this season. A first-time collaboration with Players Guild Theatre will bring to our stage the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime! We are also excited to welcome back our friends from Jeans ‘n Classics for the music of Journey, and over the moon to bring the nationally renowned Americana Roots band, The Steel Wheels, to our stage for their first ever performance with an orchestra!

We hope you will enjoy perusing our MasterWorks, Pops, Educational, and Divergent series offerings detailed within. Revisit an old classic, fall in love with something new, and experience the power and beauty of your Canton Symphony Orchestra. Thank you for your continued support as we move into this next chapter of music making here in Canton. We cannot wait to welcome you all to Umstattd Hall to celebrate many more firsts to come in our 2024-2025 season!

Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz, Music Director

Rachel Hagemeier, President & CEO

Check out the season announcement preview presentation!

Ragtime the Musical: In Concert

Saturday, August 17, 2024 | 7:30PM | The Players Guild

Set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century America, this timeless tale of hope, struggle, and resilience is brought to life by the powerful performances of The Players Guild cast, accompanied by the lush, orchestral score of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. With its stirring melodies, poignant storytelling, and vibrant characters, “Ragtime the Musical” in concert promises to be an unforgettable theatrical and musical experience for audiences of all ages.
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The MasterWorks Series

The MasterWorks series serves as the cornerstone of the Canton Symphony Orchestra’s mission as a nonprofit performing arts organization. Delving into the expansive repertoire of orchestral music, we present a diverse array of traditional favorites, contemporary compositions, and pieces by overlooked or underappreciated composers from throughout history.

Classical music embodies a wealth of depth and diversity, spanning centuries, continents, and cultural landscapes. Within its vast tapestry, there are endless treasures waiting to be explored and appreciated. We extend a warm invitation for you to join us on this enriching musical journey!

For those eager to experience the full spectrum of our MasterWorks series, we offer the option to purchase concert tickets as a package, providing a convenient and cost-effective opportunity to enjoy these captivating performances with a discount of 20%.

Season subscriptions will be available for renewal and sale starting on July 1, 2024.

MasterWorks I: Kanneh-Mason Plays Coleridge Taylor

Saturday, October 12, 2024 | 7:30PM | Braimah Kanneh-Mason, violin

We are delighted to welcome British violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason to Canton for his Umstattd Hall debut to kick off our 2024-2025 season. A semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent and a veteran of performances at the BBC Proms and the Royal Albert Hall, Kanneh-Mason introduces to Canton, for the very first time, the violin concerto of his fellow countryman Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
 
• Violin Concerto in G minor – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
• Symphony No. 1 in Ab major – Edward Elgar
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MasterWorks II: Star Wars & Its Influences

Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 3:00PM | Dean Zhang, piano

Don your Darth Vader mask, zip up your wookie suit, and clip on your stormtrooper helmet for this costumes-encouraged presentation of the Star Wars Suite! Our 2024-2025 Family Concert will surely delight audiences of all ages, as John Williams’ incomparable score has done for generations of fans over nearly fifty years.
 
• Kings Row Suite – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
• The Planets: Mars – Gustav Holst
• Piano Concerto No. 2, 2nd mvt. – Camille Saint-Saëns
• The Transit of Venus – Nancy Bloomer Deussen
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Paul Dukas
• Star Wars Suite – John Williams
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MasterWorks III: The 100th Anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue

Saturday, November 23, 2024 | 7:30PM | Baron Fenwick, piano

Happy Birthday to Rhapsody in Blue! And what a centennial it will be for one of America’s most beloved musical masterworks. Pianist Baron Fenwick joins the Canton Symphony for a smorgasbord of orchestral favorites inspired by the world of jazz.
 
• Overture to Treemonisha – Scott Joplin
• A Suite of Serenades – Victor Herbert
• Piano Concerto No. 1 – Dmitri Shostakovich
• Music for the Theatre – Aaron Copland
• Rhapsody in Blue – George Gershwin
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MasterWorks IV: All Things Majestic

Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 7:30PM | David Hayes, Conductor

Ever aware of the shadow of Beethoven looming over any German composer who dared to write a symphony in the 19th century, Johannes Brahms took nearly fifteen years to write his first, and it has been nearly that long since it was last heard on the Umstattd Hall stage. This beautiful and emotion-filled work helped to usher in the romantic period of symphonic writing, which produced some of the most beloved pieces in the orchestral canon.
 
• Carnival Overture – Antonin Dvořák
• All Things Majestic – Jennifer Higdon
• Symphony No. 1 in C minor – Johannes Brahms
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MasterWorks V: Sunday with Sibelius

Sunday, February 16, 2025 | 3:00PM | Konrad Kowal, violin

You can almost feel the crisp, Arctic air on your face and see the sun glistening on a vast tundra of freshly fallen snow when listening to Jean Sibelius’ first symphony, audibly influenced by life in his native Finland. At times cold and bleak while at others warm and shimmering, it is the perfect piece for a chilly, February afternoon in Canton.
 
• Concert Overture in D major – Elfrida Andrée
• Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor – Max Bruch
• Symphony No. 1 in E minor – Jean Sibelius
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MasterWorks VI: Tetzloff Plays Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto

Saturday, March 22, 2025 | 7:30PM | Reed Tetzloff, piano

Fresh off recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with the Prague Philharmonic, Reed Tetzloff comes to Canton to perform the first of these five beloved works. Hailed as “the lyric hero” of the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition in 2015, Tetzloff brings his interpretation to an early work that foreshadows the groundbreaking influence Beethoven would have on the world of Classical music.
 
• Symphony No.1 in D major “Classical” – Sergei Prokofiev
• Symphony No. 1 – Adolphus Hailstork
• Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major – Ludwig van Beethoven
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MasterWorks VII: A Voyage on the High Seas

Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 7:30PM | Canton Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Bonnie Frauenthal, soprano

Welcome aboard on our grand voyage through Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 1 “A Sea Symphony”. With a text taken from American poet Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the piece tells of the ocean itself, with its whistling winds and racing waves, while also exploring the sea as a metaphor for the journey of the soul through time and space and through this life into that which is to come. The Canton Symphony Chorus is joined by Grammy award-winning bass-baritone Dashon Burton and soprano Bonnie Frauenthal for this monumental epic, never performed in Canton until now.
 
• A Sea Poem – Ina Boyle
• Symphony No. 1 “A Sea Symphony”– Ralph Vaughan Williams
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The Pops series serves as a gateway for audiences to explore orchestral programming with music that resonates more deeply with their familiarity. From nostalgic classics accompanied by the full orchestra alongside rock bands to showcasing exceptional local talent, each performance promises to immerse you in the symphonic experience, leaving you yearning for more.

To enhance your enjoyment of the Pops series, consider purchasing concert tickets as a package, offering a 20% discount. Alternatively, you can add individual Pops concerts to your MasterWorks subscription, tailoring your experience to suit your preferences and ensuring you don’t miss out on any of the performances.

Season subscriptions will be available for renewal and sale starting on July 1, 2024.

2024 Holiday Pops Concert

Sunday, December 8, 2024 | 3:00PM | CSO Chorus

Join us for a yuletide celebration of holiday magic as the Canton Symphony Orchestra presents its much-anticipated Holiday Pops concert for 2024. Gather your loved ones and immerse yourself in the joyous sounds of the season as our talented musicians, under the baton of Maestro Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz, bring beloved holiday classics to life. From cherished carols to festive orchestral arrangements, this heartwarming performance will ignite the spirit of the holidays and leave you filled with warmth and wonder.

The sleigh bells will ring! Will you be listening?

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The Steel Wheels: Americana Roots with the Symphony

Saturday, March 8, 2025 | 7:30PM | Ben Gage, opener

Immerse yourself in a unique fusion of musical genres as the Canton Symphony Orchestra joins forces with the acclaimed Americana band, The Steel Wheels, for an iconic, collaborative concert experience. Combining the rich, symphonic textures of the orchestra with the soulful, foot-stomping melodies of The Steel Wheels, this concert promises to transcend boundaries and ignite the stage with vibrant energy.

Ben Gage is a songwriter from the rustbelt of Northeast Ohio. He creates folk music rooted in a blue collar upbringing and a love of the outdoors.

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The Music of Journey

Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 7:30PM | Jeans n' Classics

Experience the electrifying energy of rock legends Journey like never before as the Canton Symphony Orchestra collaborates with Jeans n’ Classics for an unforgettable concert event, “The Music of Journey.” Prepare to be transported on a musical journey through the iconic hits that have defined generations, reimagined with the lush symphonic arrangements of the Canton Symphony Orchestra and Jeans n’ Classics.

Join us for an EPIC evening of nostalgia, passion, and rock ‘n’ roll as the Canton Symphony Orchestra and Jeans n’ Classics pay homage to one of the greatest bands in rock history.

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