The 2007-08 season kicks off on September 8 with An Evening of Symphonic Works. The opening concert of classical music standards features a vibrant orchestration from Bach’s Musical Offering, the dramatic and majestic Symphony No. 39 by Mozart, Schubert’s youthful “Little C Major” Symphony, and the “Classical” Symphony No. 1 by Prokofiev.

After the concert, the opening festivities continue in the Krannert lobby with another CU classic-pizza! Join Sinfonia and Garcia’s Pizza in a Pan for complimentary pizza and beverages. And don’t miss the silent auction featuring vacation retreats and other get-away goodies!

October 4 Fiestas and Fandangos lends a Latin air to the concert hall as Sinfonia welcomes Roberto Sierra and James Carter. Composer Roberto Sierra’s work merges cultures and traditional musical styles, adding an element of lush Latin rhythm and jazz. Saxophonist James Carter joins Sinfonia to perform Sierra’s electrifying Concerto for Saxophone. The evening also marks the world première of Sierra’s Piano Concerto commissioned for this performance. Solo piano works by Gottschalk and Sierra round out the concert. This concert program will be repeated in Overland Park, Kansas on October 6.

Contrary to their titles, the music of October 27 is certainly not mere Child’s Play! Bizet’s Jeux d’enfants, Op. 22, “Petite Suite” opens the program to showcases the orchestra with its variety of symphonic color. The world première of Enescu’s Impressions of Childhood, orchestrated from the original work for violin and piano, features Enescu expert and Sinfonia Concertmaster Sherban Lupu. Mozart’s rigorously demanding Concerto for Oboe in C Major highlights Principal Oboist John Dee’s technical and musical mastery. As a pupil of Bizet, Gounod’s Symphony No. 1 brings this concert full circle.

Join Sinfonia in celebrating the Champaign-Urbana Ballet’s tenth season with the annual holiday Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s timeless classic brings together a collaboration of music, dance and theater. Keep an eye out for a very special Mother Ginger on opening night! The family can enjoy this winter treat on November 30, and December 1, 2, and 8.

The orchestra’s recent tour of China brings to Champaign-Urbana Tales of the Yellow River on February 2. Maestro Xu Zhong, with whom Sinfonia da Camera collaborated in Shanghai this past Spring, leads the orchestra in Dvorák’s Carnival Overture, an ode to life in all its chaotic exuberance. The program features Maestro Xu conducting two piano concertos from the keyboard: the Yellow River Piano Concerto by Xian and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The former is a work showcasing the meld of Chinese and Western Tradition, while the latter is a classical repertoire staple. Join us for this souvenir from an unforgettable journey!

To Everything a Season highlights one of the Baroque era’s finest composers on March 8. Antonio Vivaldi, priest, composer and accomplished violinist, is honored this evening with performances of his sacred and powerful pieces Gloria and Kyrie, in a collaboration with the University of Illinois Chamber Singers and guest conductor Fred Stoltzfus. The concert concludes with a perennial favorite, The Four Seasons featuring violinists Sherban Lupu and Stefan Milenkovich.

Find the Air Apparent of Sinfonia on April 2! This concert showcases the fantastic wind, brass and percussion section of the orchestra. The concert gets off to a grand start with three fanfares: Copland’s majestic Fanfare for the Common Man, Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (a riposte to Copland and a tribute to woman’s contribution to mankind), and Schikele’s Fanfare for the Common Cold. Serenades by Dvorák and Richard Strauss and Mendelssohn’s Overture for Winds display the fabulous players in a unique orchestral evening, minus strings.

Virtuosity on April 26 can be readily seen in the last of the Sinfonia season concerts. Mozart’s symphonies No. 40 and No. 41 “Jupiter” show this whimsical and legendary composer at his best. From the keyboard Ian Hobson conducts Chopin’s Variations on La ci Darem la Mano, a variation on the duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The highlight of the evening is Ignaz Moscheles’s Piano Concerto No. 8, orchestrated by Maestro Hobson from notes found scrawled on an original piano score. This work displays the maestro’s virtuosity as conductor, pianist, and orchestrator, giving rise to the title for this evening’s concert!

This eighth concerto is the final piece to be recorded for the four volume series of piano works by Moscheles, whose complete piano concerti have never before been recorded. Volume III of the series by Sinfonia was released in 2004 to rave reviews: “[The concerti] seem tailor-made for Hobson’s great panache and free-wheeling style…I hope we won’t have to wait long for him to complete the cycle.” American Record Guide, January/February 2005)

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Sinfonia da Camera appears under the auspices of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.