featured in the Broome Arts Mirror
The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra will open its 2026-2027 season with the concert “Passionate Discovery” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Broome County Forum Theatre, 236 Washington St., Binghamton. A pre-concert chat will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The performance, under the direction of Maestro Daniel Hege, will offer a rich blend of classical masterworks and historic firsts. The concert will open with the overture to Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni (arr. Ferruccio Busoni), followed by the sweeping, deeply romantic melodies of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture.
Anchoring the evening will be a monumental work of the American repertoire: Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor. Price shattered early 20th-century race and gender barriers, becoming the first African American woman to have a composition played by a major U.S. orchestra when this symphony debuted in 1933.
Price merged traditional European classical forms with Black American musical idioms, Philharmonic Executive Director Paul Cienniwa explained in a press release. During the performance, audiences will hear the rich integration of pentatonic melodies rooted in spirituals, as well as Price’s signature innovation: the inclusion of the syncopated, antebellum “Juba” dance in place of a traditional European third-movement scherzo.
Individual concert tickets, ranging from $29 to $75, and season subscriptions are available at binghamtonphilharmonic.org, or call the box office at 607-723-3931. Student rush tickets are 50 percent off with student ID. Rush tickets may not be purchased in advance.
As part of the Binghamton Philharmonic’s commitment to making live music inspiring and accessible to the community, kids 17 and under get in for free, courtesy of M&T Bank, the Symphonic Series Sponsor. Call the box office, ext. 1.
Binghamton Philharmonic concerts feature a Sensory Room for parents with young children or those with sensory sensitivities. A live video/audio feed of the concert is available in a quiet, low-sensory environment.