live music
Grand Rapids Symphony bids farewell to Rich DeVos to open 2018-19 season
by (ArtswriterGR)
Submitted 09-18-2018 under OPINION
The Grand Rapids Symphony would not be the orchestra it is today were it not for Rich and Helen DeVos. Forty-five years ago, the DeVoses funded the first five full-time musicians in the Grand Rapids Symphony – two violins, a viola, a cello and a...
Jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli joins Grand Rapids Pops for ‘McCartney and More’ this weekend
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 09-18-2018 under NONPROFITS
Jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli has played and recorded with such luminaries as Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Frigo and Buddy DeFranco. He was the opening act on Frank Sinatra’s last tour. But Pizzarelli, age 58, grew up listening to...
Grand Rapids Symphony will remember philanthropist Rich DeVos at season-opening concerts Friday, Saturday
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 09-11-2018 under NONPROFITS
Rich DeVos, businessman and community leader, philanthropist and patron of the arts, was a dear friend and stalwart support of the Grand Rapids Symphony. In memory of DeVos who died last week at age 92, the Grand Rapids Symphony will...
Blast of Beethoven kicks off Grand Rapids Symphony's exciting 2018-19 season
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 09-04-2018 under NONPROFITS
At the climax of the 2010 film “The King’s Speech,” King George VI overcomes the stutter he’s had since childhood to announce that Great Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. As Colin Firth, who portrays King George, addresses the British...
Beethoven's mighty Ninth Symphony, plus world premiere, bring Grand Rapids Symphony's season to thrilling conclusion
by (ArtswriterGR)
Submitted 05-22-2018 under OPINION
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is one of the crowing achievements of Western culture. The music, some of Beethoven’s best, stands on its own. Its message that all of humanity is a brotherhood elevates it to a whole new level. In 1989,...
Enjoy 'Star Wars' and more at Grand Rapids Pops' concerts of movie music of John Williams, May 11-13
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 05-08-2018 under NONPROFITS
Through the medium of music, John Williams has created more heroes and villains than Harry Potter could summon with all his magical powers. The Harry Potter franchise of movies are just some of the many famous films for which Williams has composed...
Grand Rapids Symphony, Symphony Chorus, bound for New York City's Carnegie Hall for Friday concert
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 04-18-2018 under NONPROFITS
The first time the Grand Rapids Symphony went to New York City, the goal was to go to Carnegie Hall, play a great concert, and show itself to be worthy of the hall that’s arguably the most important in North America. When the ...
Grand Rapids Symphony set to return to New York City's Carnegie Hall with world-famous pianist, Brazilian music
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 04-10-2018 under NONPROFITS
The old joke about the world’s most famous concert hall begins, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice, practice, practice,” is the answer. You also roll up your sleeves and work hard to prepare a program,...
Grand Rapids Symphony's Holiday Pops are homegrown fun for a hometown audience
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 12-12-2017 under NONPROFITS
If you love Christmas, you love Christmas carols, sung by a choir. Join the Grand Rapids Pops for its Wolverine World Wide Holiday Pops, and you get to hear not one but two choirs sing Christmas music. What’s more, you get to sing along too....
Grand Rapids Pops brings 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' to DeVos Performance Hall on Friday, Saturday
by (GRSymphony)
Submitted 09-28-2017 under NONPROFITS
Harry Potter has a magic that resonates across locations and generations, and this weekend the magic will leap from movie theaters to DeVos Performance Hall in one flick of a wand. Last season, the Grand Rapids Pops brought the Harry Potter...