Photos By Dave Moore 

After several months without concerts, the sound of music returned to Powell Hall in Midtown St. Louis. Live concerts began again with Music Director Stéphane Denève and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra the last weekend of March and will continue through May 15. Assistant Conductor Stephanie Childress made her SLSO performance debut in concert March 26-28 as violin soloist on J.S. Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with SLSO Associate Principal Second Violinist Kristin Ahlstrom; Denève also led the first SLSO performances of Ester Mägi’s Vesper, Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony. The mood was enthusiastic, and the audience and musicians were thrilled to be back.

Capacity is limited to 300 for all shows with modifications implemented like socially distant seating arrangements, masks required, contactless ticketing, no food/beverage service, an hourlong program without intermission, and specifically-designed ingress/egress routes for patrons.  

Childress will make her conducting debut with the orchestra in hourlong, socially distanced concerts at Powell Hall on April 9-11 and April 16-18, 2021. Concerts are 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday, April 9-10; 3:00pm, Sunday, April 11; 11:00am, Friday, April 16; 7:30pm, Saturday, April 17; and 3:00pm, Sunday, April 18. Tickets are $25-$50 and are on sale now. Audience capacity will be limited to 300 people. To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 314-534-1700. Box office hours are Monday-Friday, 10:00am to 3:00pm, and one hour prior to concert start times.

Denève appointed Childress to the Assistant Conductor position in 2020. In that role, she also is the Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, which began limited, on-stage rehearsals at Powell Hall in March. Childress will also assist Denève in his weeks leading the orchestra.

Childress’ debut program on April 9-11 spotlights the SLSO strings as well as composers from her home in Britain. The concert opens with Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony, a brief and playful work that has been played several times throughout the SLSO’s history, including several performances for children at education concerts. The concert continues with the first SLSO performances of Sally Beamish’s swirling The Day Dawn.

Concluding the concerts is Antonín Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings, one of the composer’s most popular works that showcases the many musical colors of the string orchestra. 

On April 16-18, Childress and the SLSO take audiences to another time. The concert opens with the first SLSO performances of Luigi Boccherini’s leaping Overture. SLSO violinist Xiaoxiao Qiang and SLSO violist Shannon Farrell Williams take center stage as featured soloists in W.A. Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, K. 364, which blurs the line between symphony and concerto.

To close the program, the SLSO performs Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3, a four-movement suite of music inspired by 16th, 17th, and 18th century music for the lute, a plucked string instrument popular in the Renaissance era.

The SLSO’s spring 2021 live concerts build upon the success of in-person concerts in October and November 2020, when the SLSO welcomed audiences to live events in Powell Hall for the first time since March 2020. On the advice of a team of infectious disease experts at the Washington University School of Medicine led by Dr. Stephen Liang, the SLSO will maintain its operating plan that adheres to the highest standards of health and safety for patrons, musicians, and staff. This plan, approved by the City of St. Louis, includes a socially distanced seat map, limits contact, and requires audience members, staff, and string players of the orchestra to wear masks at all times. Based on current guidance from the city and the SLSO medical team, Powell Hall has been approved for a 726-person capacity per concert. Out of an abundance of caution, the SLSO has capped each concert at 300 people per concert to allow direct seat access for all patrons. Protocols may change throughout the spring as pandemic conditions evolve. Learn more about the SLSO’s health and safety protocols for concerts  here.  For more information, visit slso.org.