One of Enid’s cultural gems is the Enid Symphony Orchestra. While the ESO has been around in one form or another since 1905, it was just last year that they celebrated their “Silver Season,” which marked the 25th anniversary of the renovation of the Joan Allen Symphony Hall. As the orchestra heads into the 2024-2025 season, aptly named “Rising Voices,” the series promises to be an epic one. There are six main shows planned between September 2024 and April 2025, with the Edward Jones “Harvest Wine” series taking place in August.
The August schedule consists of four smaller, intimate shows designed to showcase individual artists. Executive Director Victoria ‘Tori’ Moreira said, “The cool thing about Harvest Wine is it’s not usually classical music,” and this year’s slate promises to deliver a fun, eclectic range of music. Artists scheduled to perform include a local indie folk singer-songwriter, a jazz trio, a Broadway cabaret duo, and an opera tenor.
Kicking off the official start of the season is the September 14th concert, which will highlight women composers, including Lili Boulanger, Vítězslava Kaprálová, and Florence Price. “We’re calling it ‘Rising Voices’ because the composers of this concert, a lot of them were women who died very young, and it makes you wonder what kinds of songs they would have written had they lived longer,” explained Moreira.
Guests are encouraged to bring their young ones to the October show, which will feature Prokofiev’s beloved classic Peter and the Wolf, along with Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, the symphony will perform its traditional holiday concert, this year featuring vocalist Joan Allison, who “specializes in jazz, blues, music from the 40s and 50s…we’re going to be doing a bunch of holiday hits that she’s going to sing with the orchestra,” said Moreira.
In February, audiences will be treated to a romantic concert that includes the Carmen Fantasy and the Romeo & Juliet Suite, with flutist Juliana Overmier at the helm. Finally, the season will conclude on April 12, with a concert aptly named “Transcendence.” The performance will feature Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Roger Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.
Now in her second year as Executive Director, Moeira is looking forward to the road ahead for ESO. She and Artistic Director Douglas Newell are especially excited about continuing to forge relationships with other organizations in Enid. Last year, for example, ESO worked with Enid Public Schools in bringing Carnegie Hall’s “Link Up” program to elementary students. ESO also hosted a group from Leonardo’s Children’s Museum, where “we had them come in, and we’d play a bunch of toy instruments, and it was awesome,” said Moeira. This year, she and Newell wanted to figure out how to do something in connection with animals, and so at the October concert, ESO will be hosting the Enid SPCA. “We’re doing an adoption event with the SPCA in our parking lot the morning of the concert, because it’s all animal themed!”
Moeira encourages everyone to come experience the ESO. “We really want these concerts to be an experience, an evening out. Our box office and bar open at 6:30. People can check in for concerts and have a drink, and then the concerts start at 7:30, and they’re about an hour long. And then we have the reception afterwards.” Season and individual tickets are available at the Enid Symphony office or at www.enidsymphony.org.
