2026-2027 Concerts Series
The Program
Anna Clyne Color Field
Michael Torke Green
Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
The PSO’s winter concert features a color-filled program that will take audiences on a musical walk through galleries of sound and color, where paintings come to life, hues are translated into music, and each piece offers a distinct visual and emotional landscape. Clyne’s melodic and hazy “Color Field” draws inspiration from the Color Field painting movement—particularly Mark Rothko’s 1961 work Orange, Red, Yellow—as well as the concept of synesthesia. Synesthesia also inspired the titles of five orchestral “color” works by Michael Torke in the mid-to-late 1980s, from which the PSO will perform “Green,” a shimmering, propulsive work full of rhythmic drive and radiant, celebratory energy. The concert concludes with Mussorgsky’s iconic “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a vivid suite that turns a walk through an art gallery into a sweeping musical journey.
What Makes This Concert Special?
- All pieces on the program are inspired by visual art and the concept of Synesthesia.
- Dedicated to philanthropist Melanie Sabelhaus, the piece transforms color into sound, assigning Yellow, Red, and Orange to specific musical notes while weaving in a traditional Serbian melody. The result is a richly textured, vibrant, and immersive soundscape that blurs the boundaries between sight and sound.
- As Torke writes in his program notes, “Green implies a kind of inexperienced freshness, something that is unseasoned and youthful. But the color green for me associates with the key of E major, and Green continues my exploration of writing energetic, single-movement orchestral pieces that celebrate, without modulation, a single color.”
- Connected by the recurring “Promenade” theme, Pictures at an Exhibition represents the composer walking, heavily, through a gallery of works by architect and painter of Viktor Hartmann. The work brings a series of scenes to life: from a grotesque gnome-shaped nutcracker and a solitary medieval castle to lively Parisian gardens, a lumbering oxcart, bustling market scenes, and the triumphant grandeur of the Great Gate of Kyiv.
- Throughout the concert, audiences can watch local artist Nick Skally bring the music to life visually through a live, onstage painting experience.
What You'll Hear
Take a Closer Look
- I Care If You Listen: Anna Clyne
- NPR: Composer Anna Clyne, a radical melodist with a painter’s eye
- Podcast: In the Studio with Anna Clyne and Jody Elff
- Anna Clyne hosts Women’s History Month podcast on 31 women composers
- Michael Torke: the good and the bad (reviews)
- Music Wise: Michael Torke (video)
- Michael Torke has “seen” the key of D as blue since he was 5 years old
- Everyday fantasia: The world of synesthesia
- Hearing colors and tasting sounds – the Learning Network’s STEM Writing Contest
- Lorde opens up about synesthesia
- What is synesthesia? (video)
- Pictures at an Exhibition gains new meaning
- The ultimate listening guide to Pictures at an Exhibition
- Behind the music: Pictures
The Details
- The concert will last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes including a 15 minute intermission.
- Join us at 1:45 PM for a pre-concert talk by Music Director John Page.
- We recommend arriving 30 minutes in advance to allow ample time for parking and finding a seat.
- Is this your first time joining us? Welcome! Visit our Before You Arrive page to learn more!
