They will, they will ROCK YOU

Once upon a time there were music students, dutifully taking lessons, practicing their Beethoven and Brahms.

Then, after they’d finished their homework playing the classics, some of them would retreat, perhaps to a party with friends or perhaps to a private space, to listen to modern music.

“When I was a music major in the early ’70s it was almost a dirty little secret if you liked Queen or the Rolling Stones or my favorite, the Allman Brothers, ” Nancy Sanderson, executive director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, admitted with a laugh. “It cast a doubt on your seriousness.”

Sanderson knows she wasn’t alone in appreciating different styles of music. She believes many of the musicians in the Philharmonic Orchestra and many music lovers in their audience did and still do — and it no longer has to be a secret.

“Now our musicians who play with the Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic (in addition to playing with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic), they love everything,” she said.

So it shouldn’t astonish anyone that the same Philharmonic that later this season will offer Aaron Copland’s “Clarinet Concerto” and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings” also will perform pieces made famous by the British rock band Queen, including “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “We Will Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” during its Sept. 27 concert at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Arts in Wilkes-Barre.

“It will be a fun concert,” Sanderson predicted, adding she also enjoyed watching a small group of orchestra musicians strike a rather fierce pose for the cover of the 2024-25 season brochure.

Before the Queen concert, a smaller presentation, “Chamber 1,” will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 in Wilkes University’s Sordoni Art Gallery in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Violinist Sasha Margolis and lutenist/guitarist Michael Leopold will team up for sonatas from 1600s Italy, “soulful folk songs and whirlwind dances from lost Jewish worlds of Eastern Europe” plus jazz favorites from France, Brazil and America.

The Queen concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic joining forces with the Jeans ‘n Classics live band.

The next concert, devoted to the music of Bizet, Lalo and Sibelius, is set for 3 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Scranton Cultural Center. Dancers from the Ballet Theatre of Scranton will perform as the orchestra plays Bizet’s “Carmen Suite,” violinist William Hagen will be featured on Lalo’s “Symphony Espagnole,” and after intermission audiences can look forward to Sibelius’ “Symphony No. 5.”

The annual holiday concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre and 3 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Scranton Cultural Center, with a holiday concert choir and the Ballet Theatre of Scranton lending their talents, along with a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Chamber 2, another more intimate performance, is set for 7 p.m. Jan. 16 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Scranton, with Ravel’s “Tombeau du Couperin,” Ligeti’s “Six Bagatelles,” William Grant Still’s “Miniatures,” and Valerie Coleman’s “Rubispheres.”

Chamber 3 is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at First Presbyterian Church, Wilkes-Barre, with cellist Alberto Parrini and his brother pianist Fabio Parrini bringing a program of Schumann, Bach, Henze and Rachmaninoff.

The Philharmonic will welcome spring with the music of Purcell, Frank, Copland, Okpebholo and Tchaikovsky at 7:30 p.m. March 15 at Wyoming Seminary’s Kirby Center for the Creative Arts in Kingston. Principal clarinetist Pascal Archer will be featured on Copland’s “Clarinet Concerto,” and before the orchestra closes the concert with Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings,” the audience will hear works by Henry Purcell, Gabriela Lena Frank and Shawn Okpebholo.

Then at 7:30 p.m. April 25 at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, the pulsating music of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” will feature the voices of guest soloists Öznur Tülüoglu, Roderick George and Christopher Burchett. Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture” and Dolores White’s “Give Birth to the Dream” will round out the presentation.

Chamber 4 is set for 7 p.m. May 15 at the Black Scranton Project Center for Arts and Culture in Scranton. Here violinists Robyn Quinnett and Emily Garrison will be joined by violist Edwin Kaplan and cellist Titilao Ayangade, to perform beloved classics by Haydn and Duke Ellington. Music by Carlos Simon and Rhiannon Giddens will explore the African-American historical experience and music by young American composer Jessie Montgomery will complete the program.

The season will conclude with “Simply the Best: A Tribute to Tina Turner,” set for 7:30 p.m. June 7 at Mohegan Pennsylvania Casino. With award-winning Tamika Lawrence and Broadway’s Shalea Adkisson on vocals, the audience will hear “Proud Mary,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” Private Dancer” and “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”

For season subscription information, call 570-270-4444.