Pictures at an Exhibition & Choral POPS!
Sunday, May 18, 2025, 5:00pm
Norcross First Global Methodist Church
**Please view a "Sneak Peek" of our exciting 2025-2026 concert season listed below the 7:30pm concert program.
Approximately 120 Minutes Including a 15-minute Intermission
The Moldau
Bedřich SMETANA
Composed: 1874
Duration: 12 minutes
Pictures at an Exhibition
Mussorgsky - Ravel
Composed: 1922
Duration: 31 minutes
Intermission
I’m So Excited
THE POINTER SISTERS
Angels
ROBBIE WILLIAMS
Dreams
THE CRANBERRIES
Bridge over Troubled Water
SIMON & GARFUNKEL
Just Give Me a Reason
P!NK
California Dreamin’
THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS
Abba Medley
ABBA
GSO MUSICIANS PERFORMING TONIGHT
—STRING FAMILY—
VIOLIN I
Nancy Schechter, concertmaster
Yohei Nakamiya, associate concertmaster
Dan Amano
Jordan Freeman
Craig Frankel
Martha Woodruff
Brenda Mora
VIOLIN II
Pamela Davis, principal
Monica Corliss, associate principal
David Bang
Cristian Trevizo
Chelsea Shankles
Catherine Blankenship
Anthony Owens
Jayna Burton
VIOLA
Sherry Ellis, principal
Noelle Williams, associate principal
Courtney Whyte-May
Lucas Legan
Honor Maltos
Laura Kuechenmeister
Robert Rieve
CELLO
Rachel Bender, principal
Miri Kim, associate principal
Sydney Passmore
Abby Nichols
Margaret Leith
Kathryn Encisco
BASS
Ryan Robertson, principal
Peter Hildebrandt, associate principal
Christina Gilkes
HARP
Julie Koenig, principal
—WOODWIND FAMILY—
PICCOLO
Joel Emerson, principal
FLUTE
Teodora Stoyanova, principal
Emily Gabbitas
OBOE
Torrence Welch, principal
Zachary Kusumo
ENGLISH HORN
Amy Ross, principal
CLARINET
Diane Hargreaves, principal
Bob Gabbitas
BASS CLARINET
Bethany Petri, principal
BASSOON
Brad Nelsen, principal
Jacob Davis
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Vinnie D'Agostino, principal
—BRASS FAMILY—
HORN
Russell Williamson, principal
Christopher Nichols, assistant principal
Andrew Davidson
Ben Vickery
Charles Brown
TRUMPET
Scott Jones, principal
Robert Snelson
Brandon Hall
TROMBONE
Nicholas Simmons-Smith, principal
Jennifer Mitchell
BASS TROMBONE/EUPHONIUM
Dwight Davis, principal
TUBA
Brent Vokes, principal
—PERCUSSION FAMILY—
TIMPANI
Harrison Cho, principal
PERCUSSION
Santiago Calvino
John M. Greenwald
Bradley Crowley
KEYBOARD
Rick Smith, principal
GSO CHORUS MEMBERS PERFORMING TONIGHT
SOPRANO
Allison Collier
Brieanna Haberling
Cecilly Shelton
Debbie Jones
Diane Lanier
Donna Pracht
Lacy Wheeler
LaDonna Pitts
Lydia O’Dell
Melissa Black
Rachel O’Dell
Pam Cook
Ruth Street
ALTO
Amanda Henderson
Bianca Leon
Brianne McKenna
Carol Matthieson
Cheri Lawson
Kelly Olson
Kim Johnston
Leah Kruszka
Lynn Renshaw
Ri Constantino
Sanya Simmons
Sherry Ward
Susie Parow
Tami Scheinman
Tricia Clayton
Virginia Santiago-Tosado
TENOR
Adelmo Gimenez
Cesar Gimenez
Dale Rose
David Holiday
Jeff LeCraw
Michael Harmon
Ora Ball
BASS
Brandon Graham
Brian Baker
Clayton Duffie
Duane White
J.P. Zinn
Jim Holt
ROBERT TROCINA, Artistic Director & Principal Conductor
Hailed by Odenwälder Zeitung Press (Germany) as “a brilliant conductor” who “formally lived with the music”, American conductor Robert Trocina is lauded for his “innovative approach to programming” and “deep commitment to education of musicians of all ages” by ArtsATL.
Robert Trocina has served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra since 2006, and as Music Director of the Georgia Ballet since 2019. In 2024, Trocina was appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra, and to the Board of Directors of the International Conductors Guild. He serves as Executive Director of the New School of Music, an institution he co-founded 1997. Additionally, he serves as Artistic Director of “friendship orchestras", such as the Korean American Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra known for its celebratory concerts in Georgia and Alabama that mark significant milestones in the South Korea-United States alliance.
As Music Director of Northeast Atlanta Ballet for 14 seasons, Trocina conducted over 150 classical ballet productions including Prokofiev’s Cinderella, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, among others, until the Covid-19 pandemic officially ended the orchestra’s run with NEAB. He made his Opera debut as Guest Conductor of Capitol City Opera, where he conducted acclaimed performances of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Mozart’s The Impreserio.
Trocina’s international engagements include serving as Principal Guest Conductor of the Starkenburg Philharmoniker in Germany, where he conducted on the prestigious Neujahrskonzerts Series in 2018 and 2019. He conducted the Chernivtsi Symphony Orchestra in Ukraine, where he performed American masterworks such as Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Rodeo. A “Keenan Institute at the Wilson Center” article published in 2022 described Trocina’s 2019 Ukraine performance of Rodeo as a “joyous abandon,” offering a “sharp contrast to the suffering of the pandemic and the war to follow” He led the Bad Vilbeler Kammerorchester in Frankfurt, Germany, conducting a restoration project of Hindemith’s 1921 silent film score Im Kampf mit dem Berg. And he returned to the orchestra in 2024 where he conducted works by Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Vaughan Williams.
Deeply rooted in the Atlanta arts scene, Trocina has served as Guest Conductor for a variety of ensembles, including the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Musicians Orchestra, and Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra, as well as holding the position of Associate Conductor with the Atlanta Wind Symphony from 1998 to 2003. He recently served as Guest Conductor of West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra, and his work has involved productions in theaters and on stages across the United States, as well as Canada, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ukraine and Sweden.
With a lifelong commitment to youth education, Trocina has played a pivotal role in shaping the musical landscape of the greater Atlanta area. Since co-founding the New School of Music in 1997, he has served as its Executive Director, overseeing the education of approximately 1,200 students across five campuses. From 1997 to 2006, Trocina served as Music Director of the Gwinnett Children’s and Youth Orchestras. In 2007, he spearheaded the rebranding of the youth orchestra, transforming it into the Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra (GSYO) and integrating it within the larger Gwinnett Symphony organization. This strategic shift created new opportunities for collaboration between GSYO musicians and GSO members, culminating in the annual “Side-by-Side” concert. Trocina founded the Rising Star Concerto Competition, offering young musicians the unique opportunity to perform alongside the Gwinnett Symphony for seven successful seasons.
Under Trocina’s Artistic Direction, Gwinnett Symphony has flourished, growing to encompass a diverse array of ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Chorus, Chamber Singers, Wind Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra, and Youth Orchestra, serving the varied musical interests of the Gwinnett community. He launched a cooperative initiative bringing winners of the International Conductors Workshop and Competition to guest conduct Gwinnett Symphony. To date, more than 15 conductors have participated in this initiative. Trocina’s contributions at Gwinnett Symphony extend beyond education and performance. He organized a benefit concert for Ukraine, raising over $20,000 for humanitarian efforts during the conflict. He also partnered with the Gwinnett Symphony Chorus for a DCINY performance of René Clausen’s Memorial at Lincoln Center in New York, commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Known for his commitment to contemporary music, Trocina has curated world premieres such as Songs of Awe and Wonder by Andrew Webb-Mitchell (with the composer traveling from China for the occasion) and José Manuel Garcia’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
Born in New Jersey and raised in the vibrant Atlanta arts community, Trocina’s journey into classical music began at the age of 9 when he started playing the trumpet. Throughout his formative years, he delved deep into all aspects of music. Trocina is a graduate of the Bailey School of Music at Kennesaw State University and received further musical training at Georgia State University where, after initially studying trumpet, he went on to study orchestral conducting. He continued orchestral conducting studies under the direction of Patricio Cobos and William Fred Scott and has recently discovered new inspiration and motivation under the mentorship of maestro Philip Greenberg. He is a member of the International Conductor’s Guild, The League of American Orchestras, and the Georgia Music Educators Association. He currently lives in Buford, GA with his partner of 26 years and his Westie and Scottie dogs. Enjoying life on the water, He enjoys spending quality time with family and friends boating on Lake Lanier, GA, and at his condo in Panama City Beach, FL. More information, including Trocina’s repertoire list, concert archives, and press materials, can be found at RobertTrocina.com.
GREGORY PRITCHARD, Music Director and Co-conductor
Wes Sarginson from NBC News Atlanta noted that Gregory Pritchard “brings a sense of humor with his baton” and K.S. Morrison from the Macon Telegraph called Pritchard “well-grounded in the art of orchestral conducting” with an interpretive sense that is “tasteful and innovative.”
Gregory Pritchard currently serves as Music Director and Co-Conductor of the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the conducting staff since 2010, performing with Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra and Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has also served as Music Director of the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre since 2023. Prior to his current posts, he served as the Music Director of the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra (GA) for five seasons. With a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Michigan State University, Dr. Pritchard was a student of Leon Gregorian, Catherine Comet, and Elizabeth Green. He has had additional training with Gustav Meier, David Lobel, Neeme Jarvi, and Adrian Gnam as an active participant in American Symphony Orchestra League and Conductors Guild and other conducting workshops. He credits his musical sensitivity to his training in the Musin tradition with Leonid Korchmar and Peter Gribanov in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Dr. Pritchard's technical ability and natural rapport with the audience and orchestra alike have afforded him many opportunities over the past twenty-five years. He previously served as Music Director of Opera Company of Mid-Michigan, conducting acclaimed performances that include La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Don Pasquale, The Bartered Bride, The Old Maid and the Thief, and Faust. He has also held faculty positions at Georgia State University, University of Evansville (IN), Indiana Wesleyan University, Taylor University (IN), Konservatori Seni Halus (Fine Arts Conservatory, Penang, Malaysia), and Hope College (MI). Additional conducting positions include Associate Conductor of the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra (IN), Music Director of the Holland Area Youth Orchestra (MI), Music Director of the Gwinnett County Youth Symphony (GA) and Assistant Conductor at the Music Festival of Arkansas and Southeastern Music Center (GA).
Dr. Pritchard’s passion for music began as a young child and he has pursued it at every opportunity. He has studied every instrument in the orchestra at one point or another in his career. He holds a Woodwind Specialist Performance Degree from Michigan State University and has taught all five of the woodwinds at the college level—bassoon, saxophone, oboe, clarinet, and flute. Violin and viola are his primary string instruments and he taught exemplary string programs in the public schools for seventeen years. His extensive engagements around the globe as a bassoonist and saxophonist include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (GA), Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic (IN), Charleston Symphony Orchestra (SC), Penang State Symphony (Malaysia), Evansville Philharmonic (IN), Owensboro Symphony (KY), Lansing Symphony (MI), and Grand Rapids Symphony (MI). Some fun highlights include performing with Josh Groban on The Oprah Show and playing saxophone in concert with The Temptations. As a ballet orchestra performer, he currently serves as Principal Bassoonist with the Georgia Ballet and Gwinnett Ballet. He has guest conducted several ensembles throughout the United States, including the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra (MO), Macon Symphony (GA), Lake Charles Symphony (LA), Gwinnett Ballet (GA), West Virginia State Philharmonic, Southeastern Ohio Symphony, Grande Ronde Symphony (OR), Atlanta Wind Symphony, Miami University Orchestra (OH), and Alma Symphony (MI).
Dr. Pritchard has amassed an impressive array of awards and accolades. In 1990, as Assistant Conductor of the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra, he conducted performances in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and France, and was selected to perform a private concert for the Chancellor of Vienna. In 1997 the Lansing State Journal named him "Exceptional Music Director" for his work at the Riverwalk Theater (MI). Also in 1997, he was appointed the first ever Fellowship Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony, conducting Family and Special Event performances and cover conducting educational and pops programs. In 2004 he won first prize at the International Conductors Workshop and Competition in Macon, Georgia and the Advanced Conducting Workshop in St. Petersburg, Russia. Also in 2004, he was named a Semifinalist for the National Conducting Institute in Washington D.C. In October 2005, he guest conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Congress Orchestra (the orchestra of the Russian Ballet) as a result of his competition win the previous year. In 2010 he made his conducting debut in Italy with the Orchestra da Camera del Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Dr. Pritchard is also deeply committed to education and shares his infectious love of music with his students as a veteran music teacher with Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2002 with the Brookwood Philharmonic. Currently, he serves as the Fine Arts Department Chair at Gwinnett Online Campus where he developed an entire online music curriculum.
After winning first place in conducting competitions in both the United States and Russia, Dr. Pritchard was appointed as a faculty member of the International Conductors Workshop and Competition in 2005. He now serves as Co-Director of the workshop, tutoring dozens of talented conductors each year, many of which have gone on to conduct top orchestras around the United States and abroad including San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and many others.
RICK SMITH, conductor
An active Music Director, Educator and Entrepreneur, Rick Smith serves as Music Director of Gwinnett Symphony Chorus, Chamber Singers, and Executive Director of Gwinnett Symphony Musical Arts Consortium. Mr. Smith is Executive Director of New School of Music and Director of Music Ministries at Johns Creek Christian Church.
Mr. Smith began formal study of music on piano at the age of 7. He comes from a very musical family where everyone was expected to play an instrument or sing. It was quickly noticed that he had a talent for piano and became the pianist at his church at age 12, and continued until he began his college career. While studying music at Shorter College in Rome, GA, Mr. Smith not only strengthened and refined his skills as a pianist and vocalist, but he also developed a passion and a taste for exquisite choral music. Though his primary instrument is piano, private voice instruction and extensive choral training played a huge role in the make up of Mr. Smith's musical studies. While receiving Bachelor’s degrees in both Church Music and Music Education, Mr. Smith gained exposure to choral music under the tutelage of choral genius, John H. Ratledge III, Ph.D. Dr. Ratledge, a student of the world renowned choral composer, Morten Lauridsen, engrained into his students a broad spectrum of remarkable technique in all genres
of music.
Mr. Smith serves as Director of Music Ministries at Johns Creek Christian Church located in Johns Creek, GA. Prior to that, he held a music ministry position for 9 ½ years at First Christian Church of Atlanta, (Disciples of Christ), in Tucker, GA. In 1997, Mr. Smith co-founded New School of Music, which has three primary locations in the Atlanta area. New School of Music employs approximately 80 professional faculty and staff, and provides quality, private and group music instruction to over 1600 students.
Mr. Smith has maintained a leadership role with Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra & Chorus since 1997. Currently he conducts the Gwinnett Symphony Chorus, which he founded in 2007. The GSO Chorus is made up of musicians and vocalists of all levels and abilities and performs with the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra at the Performing Arts Center at Gwinnett Center several times per year. The chorus performs sacred and secular works, major classical works, as well as contemporary selections from musical genres ranging from film scores to pop. Under Mr. Smith’s direction, The GSOC was recently bestowed the honor of performing in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on September 11, 2011, for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The performance, as part of the Distinguished Concerts International New York City (DCINY) Concert Series, was of Rene Clausen’s “Memorial”, and was conducted by the composer.
Bedřich SMETANA
Composed: 1874
Duration: 12 minutes
The composer who made Bohemian national music viable within and beyond Czech borders was Bedrich Smetana, himself trained in Austrian-run schools, who spoke only German as a youth, but was radicalized during the revolutionary fervor that spread across Europe during the late 1840s. The new element that Smetana brought to Czech music was the employment of folk styles as part – the crucial part – of an independent musical language rather than inserting them as exotic coloring in scores that could have been written by a non-native. Exemplars of his method are the comic opera The Bartered Bride, his sparkling, spiky polkas for solo piano, the string quartet From My Life, and the set of six independent symphonic poems, Má vlast (My Homeland).
Má vlast was composed over a period five years: Vysehrad and Vltava (Moldau in German) in 1874, Sarka and From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields in 1875, Tábor and Blaník in the winter of 1878/79. By the time of the first public performances of Vysehrad and Vltava at the same concert in Prague in 1875, the depredations of venereal disease had made Smetana deaf, to which in the following years would be added blindness and the hallucinations and self-destructiveness that caused him to be institutionalized. He died in a Prague asylum for the insane in May of 1884.
Smetana had not originally considered a set of symphonic poems, rather a single work tracing the course of the Vltava River from its source in the Bohemian forest to its majestic passage through Prague. But the notion took on a life of its own, becoming a musical picture of the landscape of Bohemia and episodes in its history.
The Moldau, which has achieved the strongest independent life among the six symphonic poems, is a rondo (with coda) in which the haunting, G-major main theme is introduced by the upper strings and woodwinds, with the lower strings suggesting the river waves. To quote poet-composer Václav Zeleny, who devised the programs, i.e., story lines, for all six tone poems: “This composition depicts the course of the Moldau. It sings of its first two springs, one warm the other cold, rising in the Bohemian forest, watches the streams as they join and follows the flow of the river through fields and woods... a meadow where the peasants are celebrating a wedding. In the silver moonlight the river nymphs frolic, castles and palaces float past, as well as ancient ruins growing out of the wild cliffs. The Moldau foams and surges in the Rapids of St. John, then flows in a broad stream toward Prague. Vysehrad Castle appears (the four-note theme from the first of the six symphonic poems) on its banks. The river strives on majestically, lost to view, finally yielding itself up to the Elbe.”
Citation:
https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4162/the-moldau
Herbert Glass, after serving on the administrative staffs of the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Opera, was for 25 years a critic / columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He has also written for the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and for periodicals in Europe and the United States. He recently completed his 15th season as English-language editor / annotator for the Salzburg Festival.
Moussorgsky - Ravel
Composed: 1922
Duration: 31 minutes
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Although anxious to pursue the study of music, Modest Mussorgsky was trained for government service, and had to forage around as best he could for a musical education. Considering his limitations—an insecure grasp of musical form, of traditional harmony, and of orchestration—it is no wonder he suffered from profound insecurity. A victim of alcoholism, he died at 46 but left a remarkably rich legacy— authentic, bold, earthy, and intensely vivid Russian music.
Pictures at an Exhibition proved to be a welcome rarity in Mussorgsky’s anguished experience—a composition born quickly and virtually painlessly. Reporting to his friend Vladimir Stasov about the progress of the original piano suite, Mussorgsky exulted: “Ideas, melodies, come to me of their own accord. Like roast pigeons in the story, I gorge and gorge and overeat myself. I can hardly manage to put it all down on paper fast enough.” The fevered inspiration was activated by a posthumous exhibit in 1874 of watercolors and drawings by the composer’s dear friend Victor Hartmann, who had died suddenly the previous year at the age of 39. Mussorgsky’s enthusiastic and reverent homage to Hartmann takes form as a series of musical depictions of 10 of the artist’s canvases, all of which hang as vividly in aural space as their visual progenitors occupied physical space.
As heard most often in present-day performances, Pictures wears the opulent apparel designed by Maurice Ravel, who was urged by conductor Serge Koussevitzky to make an orchestral transcription of the piano set, which he did in 1922. The results do honor to both composers: The elegant Frenchman did not deprive the music of its realistic muscle, bizarre imagery, or intensity, but heightened them through the use of marvelously apt instrumentation.
Pictures begins with, and several of its sections are preceded by, a striding promenade theme—Russian in its irregular rhythm and modal inflection—which portrays the composer walking, rather heavily, through the gallery.
Promenade: Trumpets alone present the theme, after which the full orchestra joins for the most extended statement of its many appearances.
Gnomus: Hartmann’s sketch portrays a wooden nutcracker in the form of a wizened gnome. The music lurches, twitches, and snaps grotesquely.
Promenade: Horn initiates the theme in a gentle mood and the wind choir follows suit.
Il vecchio castello: Bassoons evoke a lonely scene in Hartmann’s Italian castle. A troubadour (English horn) sings a sad song, at first to a lute-like accompaniment in violas and cellos.
Promenade: Trumpet and trombones are accompanied by full orchestra.
Tuileries: Taunting wind chords and sassy string figures set the scene, and then Mussorgsky’s children prank, quarrel, and frolic spiritedly in the famous Parisian gardens.
Bydło (Polish Oxcart): A Polish peasant drives an oxcart whose wheels lumber along steadily (with rhythmic regularity) and painfully (heavy-laden melody in brass).
Promenade: Winds, beginning with flutes, then in turn oboes and bassoons, do the walking, this time with tranquil steps.
Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks: Mussorgsky, with disarming ease, moves from oxcart to fowl yard, where Hartmann’s chicks are ballet dancers in eggshell costumes.
Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle: The names Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle were later additions to the title of this section, originally named “Two Polish Jews, One Rich, the Other Poor.” The composer satirizes the pair through haughty pronouncements from the patriarch (winds and strings) and nervous subservience from the beggar (stuttering trumpets).
The Market at Limoges: The bustle and excitement of peasant women in the French city’s market are brilliantly depicted.
Catacombs: The music trudges through the ancient catacombs on the way to a mournful, minor-key statement of the promenade theme.
Cum mortuis in lingua mortua: In this eerie iteration of the promenade theme, which translates to “with the dead in a dead language,” Mussorgsky envisioned the skulls of the catacombs set aglow through Hartmann’s creative spirit.
The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (Baba Yaga): Baba Yaga, a witch who lives in a hut supported by chicken legs, rides through the air demonically with Mussorgsky’s best Bald Mountain pictorialism.
The Great Gate of Kyiv: Ceremonial grandeur, priestly chanting, the clanging of bells, and the promenade theme create a singularly majestic canvas that is as conspicuously Russian to the ear as Hartmann’s fanciful picture of the Gate is to the eye. —Orrin Howard
Citation:
https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/557/pictures-at-an-exhibition
Gwinnett Symphony
Robert Trocina, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Gregory Pritchard, Music Director and Co-Conductor
Rick Smith, Symphony Chorus Music Director and Conductor
Your Gwinnett. Your Symphony.
2025-2026 Concert Season
Join Gwinnett Symphony this season for an unforgettable musical experience that celebrates the heart of our community. Under the artistic leadership of Robert Trocina, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Gregory Pritchard, Music Director and Co-Conductor, and Rick Smith, Symphony Chorus Music Director and Conductor, the Gwinnett Symphony’s 2025–2026 Concert Season invites you to connect, discover, and be inspired through the power of live performance. Spanning a season that begins at the magnificent Atlanta Symphony Hall and concludes at the beautiful Gas South Theater in Duluth, this journey offers something for everyone—from breathtaking orchestral masterworks to joyful family traditions and thrilling pops favorites.
Now in its 29th season, Gwinnett Symphony invites you on a musical journey filled with power, passion, and discovery. The season launches with the commanding 80th Anniversary WWII Victory Concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall, performed by the Atlanta International Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra, where East and West converge in a sweeping tribute featuring Yellow River Cantata by Xian Xinghai, selections by Leonard Bernstein and John Williams, and a patriotic finale honoring the spirit of remembrance and unity.
From there, the season plunges into emotional depths with Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich, Coriolan Overture by Ludwig van Beethoven, and a special performance by our Youth Orchestra. Next the community comes together in full voice during our Messiah Sing-Along, filling the sanctuary with Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah by George Frideric Handel, and families gather for the sacred splendor and festive cheer of Vivaldi Gloria & Holiday Pops!, featuring Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi and a lively selection of modern favorites and seasonal classics—plus a chance for children to take the podium and conduct Sleigh Ride.
Laughter, elegance, and surprise take center stage in A Vienna New Year’s Celebration, where Symphony No. 40 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Strauss waltzes meet a featured solo by Teodora Stoyanova, principal flute of GSO, and a playful side-by-side with the Youth Orchestra. Next, the beauty of brass and chorus shines in Rutter Requiem & Orchestral Brass, opening with O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen and Magnificat by Arvo Pärt, and concluding with Requiem by John Rutter, a radiant masterwork of hope and reflection.
With celestial grandeur and immersive visuals, The Planets by Gustav Holst transports audiences through the solar system in an unforgettable fusion of sound and science including NASA footage from the Webb and Hubble telescopes, paired with a dazzling guest concerto. Then, the spotlight turns to our future performers in the Youth Orchestra Festival Concert, where more than 95 young musicians from across Gwinnett demonstrate the power and promise of music education.
The season closes with a spectacular send-off as the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra & Chorus present The Kings and Queens of Pop, Rock and Soul at the beautiful Gas South Theater in Duluth—a show-stopping tribute to musical legends including Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift.
Join Gwinnett Symphony and experience the power of live music— Your Gwinnett. Your Symphony.
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80th Anniversary WWII Victory Concert
Sunday, September 21, 2025, 6:30pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center
Join the Atlanta International Symphony Orchestra at the renowned Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, for the 80th Anniversary WWII Victory Concert on Sunday, September 21, 2025 at 6:30pm. Led by Artistic Director and Conductor Robert Trocina and Conductor Gregory Pritchard, and produced by Yang Song and Yu Zhao, this powerful commemorative concert is presented in collaboration with members of the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra, and a mass choir comprised of singers from Atlanta, Houston, New York, and Washington D.C. The evening features Xian Xinghai’s Yellow River Cantata—a monumental anthem of Chinese resilience—preceded by a moving sequence of American works including Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and Mambo from West Side Story, John Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List and Hymn to the Fallen, Morton Gould’s American Salute, Carmen Dragon’s arrangement of America the Beautiful, Bob Louden’s Armed Forces Salute, and John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. Through stirring music and international collaboration, this once-in-a-generation performance offers a resonant tribute to courage, remembrance, and unity. More information, including a complete list of sponsors and supporters, is coming soon!
Atlanta International Symphony Orchestra
Robert Trocina, Artistic Director and Conductor
Gregory Pritchard, Conductor
Yang Song, Yu Zhao, Producers
in collaboration with members of:
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra
Mass Choir including singers from Atlanta, Houston, New York and Washington DC
Program:
GOULD American Salute
BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town”
WILLIAMS Theme from “Schindler's List”
Nancy Schechter, Violin
Two Chinese National Works for Brass Quintet - TBD
BERNSTEIN Mambo from “West Side Story”
WILLIAMS Hymn to the Fallen from “Saving Private Ryan”
ARR. LOUDEN Armed Forces Salute
ARR. DRAGON America the Beautiful
-Intermission-
Xian Xinghai Yellow River Cantata
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Shostakovich 5 & Youth Orchestra
Sunday, November 2, 2025, 7pm
Discovery Theater, Lawrenceville, GA
Experience the drama, defiance, and raw emotional power of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at 7:00pm at Discovery Theater in Lawrenceville, GA. Under the direction of conductor Gregory Pritchard, the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra present a gripping evening of music that spans generations. The program opens with Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, led by Misaki Hall, 2025 International Conductors Workshop & Competition Winner, followed by Shostakovich’s masterful Fifth Symphony, conducted by Pritchard. After intermission, the Youth Orchestra takes the stage with Newbold’s Song of the Sea Mariner, Grieg’s Åse’s Death, and explosive excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Join us for a night of bold contrasts, emotional depth, and rising talent.
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra
Gregory Pritchard, Conductor
Misaki Hall, 2025 ICWC Winner, Guest Conductor
Program:
(GSO)
Beethoven Coriolan Overture (Hall)
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 (Pritchard)
—intermission —
(GSYO)
Newbold Song of the Sea Mariner
Grieg-Ase’s Death from Peer Gynt
Stravinsky/Gruselle excerpts from The Rite of Spring
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Messiah Sing-Along
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 3pm
Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church
Join the Gwinnett Symphony Chorus for a joyous Messiah Sing-Along on Sunday, November 23, 2025 at 3:00pm at Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church. Led by conductor Rick Smith, this uplifting event invites singers and listeners alike to experience the power and beauty of Handel’s Messiah, Part One—including the unforgettable Hallelujah Chorus. Whether you’re a seasoned chorister or singing it for the first time, all are welcome to raise their voices in this inspiring community celebration. Bring your own score or borrow one at the door, and be part of a treasured holiday tradition that fills the room with harmony, joy, and shared spirit.
Gwinnett Symphony Chorus & Orchestra (string quartet)
Rick Smith, Conductor
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Vivaldi Gloria & Holiday POPS!
Sunday, December 14, 2024, 5pm
Norcross First Methodist Church
Celebrate the season with a powerful blend of the sacred and the festive at Vivaldi Gloria & Holiday Pops! on Sunday, December 14, 2024, at 5:00pm at Norcross First Methodist Church. Under the direction of Rick Smith, the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus present Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, a radiant Baroque masterpiece filled with joy and reverence. After intermission, the celebration continues with our signature Holiday Pops—a cheerful mix of seasonal classics, modern holiday favorites, and sing-along carols. A favorite family tradition returns as children from the audience are invited to the podium to conduct Sleigh Ride and receive their own commemorative baton. Following the concert, enjoy photos with Santa and winter characters, and browse our holiday gift shop—supporting the music you love with every festive purchase.
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Rick Smith and Robert Trocina, Conductors
Program:
VIVALDI Gloria, RV 589
-intermission-
Holiday POPS!
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A Vienna New Year’s Celebration
Sunday, January 11, 2026, 7pm
Discovery Theater, Lawrenceville, GA
Ring in the New Year with elegance, energy, and a splash of comic surprise at A Vienna New Year’s Celebration on Sunday, January 11, 2026, at 7:00pm at Discovery Theater in Lawrenceville, GA. Under the direction of Gregory Pritchard and Robert Trocina, the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra opens the evening with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, followed by Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 (2nd movement) featuring Teodora Stoyanova, principal flute of the GSO. The first half concludes with Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz and Leroy Anderson’s The Typewriter. After intermission, the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra unite for a spirited side-by-side performance, closing the celebration with the jubilant Radetzky March. Start your year with joyful music, delightful surprises, and a festive symphonic experience.
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra (Side-by-Side)
Gregory Pritchard and Robert Trocina, Conductors
Teodora Stoyanova, Flute
Program:
MOZART Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2 in D, 2nd Movement
Teodora Stoyanova, Flute
Strauss II The Blue Danube Waltz
ANDERSON The Typewriter
STRAUSS Sr. Radetzky March Op. 228
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Rutter Requiem & Orchestral Brass
Sunday, February 22, 2026, 5pm
Norcross First Methodist Church
Step into a soundscape of sacred beauty and symphonic power at Rutter Requiem & Orchestral Brass on Sunday, February 22, 2026, at 5:00pm at Norcross First Methodist Church. Under the direction of Rick Smith and Robert Trocina, the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus present an inspiring evening that begins in quiet reverence and builds to a stirring choral-orchestral summit. The program opens with O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, a radiant meditation for brass ensemble led by Robert Trocina, followed by Magnificat by Arvo Pärt, a hauntingly reflective work for chorus conducted by Rick Smith. After intermission, the performance culminates in Requiem by John Rutter, a luminous and heartfelt masterwork that offers solace and hope through soaring melodies and spiritual depth—also under the baton of Rick Smith.
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Rick Smith and Robert Trocina, Conductors
Program:
Morten Lauridsen O Magnum Mysterium for Brass Ensemble
Pärt Magnificat
-Intermission -
Rutter Requiem
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Holst The Planets and Soloist TBD
(major artist announcement coming soon)
Sunday, March 29, 2026, 5pm
Norcross First Methodist Church
Journey across the cosmos with Holst’s The Planets on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at 5:00pm at Norcross First Methodist Church. Conducted by Robert Trocina, this epic orchestral suite invites you on a thrilling voyage from Mars, the Bringer of War to Neptune, the Mystic—a celestial journey through the solar system, with vivid musical portraits of each planet along the way. The performance is elevated by breathtaking NASA imagery from the Hubble and Webb space telescopes, transforming the evening into a stunning fusion of sound and space. The program also features a dazzling concerto conducted by Gregory Pritchard, with a renowned guest soloist soon to be announced. Don’t miss this stellar symphonic experience that boldly ventures beyond the bounds of Earth.
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra
Robert Trocina and Gregory Pritchard, Conductors
Soloist, TBD
Program:
CONCERTO TBD
intermission
HOLST The Planets
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Youth Orchestra Festival Concert
Monday, May 4, 2026, 6:00pm
Gas South Theater, Duluth, GA
Celebrate the energy, artistry, and promise of young musicians at the Youth Orchestra Festival Concert on Monday, May 4, 2026, at 6:00pm at Gas South Theater in Duluth, GA. Led by Gregory Pritchard, the Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra—a full symphony ensemble of over 95 talented students—presents an inspiring evening of symphonic highlights. The program includes Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia, the lyrical “Intermezzo” from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, and the thrilling Star Wars Through the Years by John Williams. From cinematic excitement to sweeping romanticism, this showcase captures the spirit and skill of Gwinnett’s next generation of symphonic performers. Come and be inspired!
Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra
Gregory Pritchard, Conductor
Borodin-In the Steppes of Central Asia
Mascagni-“Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana
Williams-Star Wars through the Years
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The Kings and Queens of Pop, Rock and Soul
Monday, May 4, 2026, 7:30pm
Gas South Theater, Duluth, GA
Close out the season in style with the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra & Chorus as they present The Kings and Queens of Pop, Rock and Soul on Monday, May 4, 2026 at 7:30pm at Gas South Theater in Duluth, GA. Under the direction of Rick Smith, Robert Trocina, and Gregory Pritchard, this electrifying grand finale pays tribute to the icons who shaped modern music—featuring hits by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, and more, and a special performance of Bohemian Rhapsody with violist Sherry Ellis. With soaring vocals, driving rhythms, and full symphonic power, the GSO and Chorus deliver a night of unforgettable energy and entertainment. Come sing, sway, and celebrate the season’s final bow with a concert that will leave you cheering for more.
Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Rick Smith, Robert Trocina, and Gregory Pritchard, Conductors
Sherry Ellis, Viola
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