All Symphony Series concerts are preceded by Prelude, a thirty minute pre-concert discussions. Join Maestro Boughton or a guest speaker to hear insights about the evenings’ featured repertoire along with historically and culturally relevant background information and biographical information about featured soloists. These engaging talks are convenient, enlightening, and FREE. Prelude discussions are from 6:30-7:00pm the evening of each Symphony Series concert.

All Prelude lectures for the 2011-2012 season will be held at The Joseph Slifka Center.

The Slifka Center is located at:
80 Wall Street,
New Haven, CT 06511
Telephone: (203) 432-1134

For directions to the Slifka Center, CLICK HERE

 2011-2012 Prelude Guest Speakers Include:

• Peace, Love and Light-September 22, 2011:Christopher Theofanidis, NHSO featured composer, will discuss his work Peace, Love, Light YOUMEONE, and provide autobiographical insights into the nature of his compositions.

• Mozart's Clarinet-October 13, 2011: Stephan Tieszan, principal violinist of the NHSO, offers an overview of Mozart's Vienna, bringing his knowledge of Mozart's life and musical characteristics together with his expertise in historical performance.

• Kavafian Plays Mozart-November 10, 2011: Libby van Cleve, Director of the Oral History of American Music Project at Yale, will discuss aspects of Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question, and Ives' significance as a pioneer of American music, accompanied by rare audio footage from interviews with the late composer.

• Russian Nights-Febrary 23, 2012: Kate Remington, WSHU radio host, will bring Tchaikovsky's Russia to life as she describes the world of Russian art in which his Symphony no. 1 and Violin Concerto were created.

• Mozartfest-March 22, 2012: Aaron Kernis, NHSO featured composer, will lead a discussion about his piece Musica Celestis, providing a  framework for an exploration of his compositional process.

• America the Beautiful-April 12, 2012: David Lang, NHSO featured composer, will speak about the interplay between teaching and composing, and talk specifically about his work Loud Love Songs.

• Elgar's Enigma-May 17, 2012: William Boughton, music director of the NHSO, will give a talk entitled 'The friends pictured within', which will explore the particular personalities and eccentricities of composers like Elgar, Dvorak, and Persichetti.