The Reading Symphony Orchestra will welcome live audiences, in-person, on April 17th for two limited-seating performances at the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading. The event marks RSO’s first live concert in more than a year and makes the RSO Pennsylvania’s first symphony orchestra to return to the concert hall.
“We are confident that we can bring patrons back safely because we have closely safeguarded the health of our musicians during our RSO: Virtually Unstoppable season,” said David Gross, Executive Director.
Throughout recordings and rehearsals, the priority has been ‘people first’. In addition to stringent sanitizing at the concert hall, the RSO has provided musicians and staff with on-site COVID testing, masks, social distancing off- and on-stage, including protective barriers for wind and brass sections. Sound and performance quality remain excellent — the message is clear: Classical music is important; people are most important.
On April 17th, the Reading Symphony Orchestra will present two live performances: 4:00pm and 7:30pm. Socially distanced seating is limited to just 250 attendees per concert (less than 15% capacity). Patrons attending live will be welcomed with familiar, best-practice safety measures including health checks, directed foot traffic, and required mask-wearing.
For classical music fans who are unable or not quite ready to attend in person, the 7:30pm concert will also be live streamed, free, on YouTube.
RSO Music Director Andrew Constantine will conduct the approximately 70-minute concerts, including works by Samuel Barber and Joan Tower.
The program concludes with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring world-renowned pianist Stewart Goodyear. Proclaimed “a phenomenon” by the Los Angeles Times and “one of the best pianists of his generation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and composer.
Tickets are available for both the afternoon and evening concerts, at a “Welcome Back” special price of $40 at readingsymphony.org.
