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August 25, 2025

2025-26 Season

Picnic at the Pops! The Music of Queen

Guest User

August 25, 2025

2025-26 Season

September 6, 2025

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Pre-Concert Talks

Sound Bite / Reimagine Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Audrey Wright!

Sound Bite / Celebrating Brotherhood & Joy: Beethoven's 9

Sound Bite / Reinventing Baroque: How These 3 Composers Were Inspired by Bach

Sound Bite / Curating a Concert with MSO Musicans

Sound Bite / Discovering the Artistic Voices of Dawson, Boulanger, & Gershwin

Sound Bite /Celebrate 30 Years of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas with the MSO!

Sound Bite / A Celebration of Music with Music Director Nicholas Hersh

Capathia Jenkins pays tribute to Aretha Franklin at Picnic at the Pops!

Sound Bite / Picnic with Principal Pops Conductor Ryan Murray & The Queen of Soul!

Behind The Podium / The Force Is Strong With The MSO

More Pre-Concert Content! →

Past Program Books

Picnic at the Pops! The Music of Queen

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in Concert

Verdi's Requiem

Carnival of the Animals

Aretha: A Tribute

Disney's Fantasia in Concert Live to Film

Holiday Candlelight Concert

Holiday Pops!

The Four Seasons Mixtape

Branford Marsalis with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra

Past Program Notes

Program Notes: Verdi's Requiem

Notes about:
Guiseppe Verdi: Requiem Mass (In Memory of Alessandro Manzoni)

Program Notes: Carnival of the Animals

Notes about:
Gershwin (arr. Hersh): Three Preludes
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
Norman: Drip Blip Sparkle Spin Glint Glide Glow Float Flop Chop Pop Shatter Splash
Copland: Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo

Program Notes: The Four Seasons Mixtape

Notes about:
Mendelssohn’s Overture from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Ortiz’s La Calaca for String Orchestra
The Four Seasons Mixtape:
Vivaldi’s L’estate (Summer)
Richter’s Autumn from The Four Seasons Recomposed
Ysaÿe’s Chant d’hiver (Wintersong)
Piazzolla’s Primavera portena (Beunos Aires Spring)

Program Notes: Branford Marsalis with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra

Notes about:
Borodin's “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor
Milhaud’s Scaramouche, Op. 165
Williams' “Escapades” from Catch Me If You Can
Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances for Large Orchestra, Op. 45

Program Notes: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

Notes about:
Pärt’s Fratres
Beach’s Peace I Leave With You
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 “Choral”

Program Notes: Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

Notes about:
Piazzolla’s Tangazo (Variations on Buenos Aires)
Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3 in G minor
Bach’s Fugue in G minor BWV 578 “Little Fugue”
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64

Program Notes: Symphonic Soundtrack

Notes about:
Rossini’s Overture to La Gazza Ladra
Gabrieli’s Sonata pian’e forte
Montgomery’s Starburst
Copland’s Clarinet Concerto
Faure’s Sicilienne from Pelleas and Melisande Suite
Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird
William’s Princess Leia’s Theme from Star Wars

Program Notes: Gershwin's An American in Paris

Notes about:
Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony
Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps
Gershwin’s An American in Paris

Program Notes: Tchaikovsky & Copland

Notes about:
Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro KV492
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
Copland’s Symphony No. 3