250 Years of Greatest Hits

This concert places SoNA and the Jazz Collective side by side on Walton Arts Center’s main stage. Both groups will play greatest hits from both the classical and jazz genres, interwoven into a continuous musical fabric you won’t want to miss.

Get tickets now at the Walton Arts Center box office or call 479.443.5600

Learn more about the Fayetteville Jazz Collective on their website.

And now, let's celebrate the Razorbacks' Cotton Bowl victory with SoNA's exciting rendition of the Razorback Fight Song! 36,000 views and counting... Go Hogs!

SoNA and the Fayetteville Jazz Collective: 250 Years of Greatest Hits
Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

Masterworks III
Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE: Season Ticket packages are still available here.

Check out the encore from SoNA's March 17 opening concert: Arkansas, Fight! Go Hogs!

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A Note from SoNA Music Director Paul Haas:

With the success of SoNA’s opening concert behind us, we’re now focused on our upcoming season: a 5-concert classical and pops music series. We’ll have something for every music lover, from classical masterpieces to exciting pops lineups, all performed by the region’s finest musicians.

I look forward to seeing you at our first concert in September!

Yours, Paul

Masterworks I
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Walton Arts Center 

Mozart Overture to Marriage of Figaro
Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor
     Sebastian Baverstam, violoncello
Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 6 in B Minor (“Pathétique”)

Mozart’s quicksilver favorite is followed by Elgar’s masterpiece, played by a prodigious talent at the beginning of what is sure to be an incredible career.  Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique was written at the end of his life, and it is without a doubt one of the most powerfully emotional symphonies in the repertoire.

Christmas Pops
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Walton Arts Center

This concert celebrates the beauty of the season with some of the most beloved Christmas and Holiday favorites, including sing-alongs and Santa. Bring your family and enjoy this Christmas treat.

Masterworks II
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
Walton Arts Center

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 3 in D Minor
     Ching-Yun, piano
Shostakovich Symphony no. 5 in D Minor

This concert is made up entirely of Russian tour-de-force literature, starting with international pianist sensation Ching-Yun playing “Rach 3,” a piece made even more famous by its prominent feature in the film Shine.  Shostakovich wrote his Symphony no. 5 in the dark days of 1937, and it is full of both hauntingly beautiful and staggeringly powerful music.

SoNA and the Fayetteville Jazz Collective
Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
Walton Arts Center

SoNA and The Jazz Collective: 250 Years of Greatest Hits

This concert places SoNA and the Jazz Collective side by side on Walton Arts Center’s main stage. Both groups will play greatest hits from both the classical and jazz genres, interwoven into a continuous musical fabric you won’t want to miss.

Masterworks III
Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
Walton Arts Center

Mahler Adagietto from Symphony no. 5 in C-Sharp Minor
Beethoven Symphony no. 9 in D Minor (“Choral”)

For the closing concert of its inaugural season, SoNA explores the theme of love. Mahler’s searing Adagietto is a love song from a husband to his wife, and it is perhaps one of the most famous symphonic movements in music history.  The evening ends with Beethoven’s epic Ninth Symphony, which through its final Ode to Joy is a plea for all mankind to embrace and love one another.



Thank you to everyone who attended our opening concert on March 17 - what a night!   Read more about it on our blog.

We're hard at work putting the finishing touches on an exciting 5-concert season for next year, with incredible music and plenty of unforgettable moments.  Here are the dates, so mark them in your calendar:

Monday, September 19
Saturday, December 10
Saturday, January 21
Saturday, March 10
Saturday, April 14

Subscriptions to the season will be available in May, and single tickets will go on sale in June.  Be sure to follow us on Facebook to get all the latest information about SoNA's upcoming season.

Our Facebook page is live!  We'll be posting videos, photos and radio recordings there...come join the fun!

Tickets for the March 17 concert will be available on Monday, January 17 through the Walton Arts Center box office at 479-443-5600 or online at www.waltonartscenter.org

After a national search, Paul Haas, the 40-year old graduate of Yale University and The Juilliard School and founder of Sympho was introduced as SoNA's music director at a press conference on August 25. Open auditions for orchestra members drew musicians from a 7-state area.  Haas has been busy building the orchestra which consists of approximately 75 musicians. The nucleus is composed of Arkansans - professional, homegrown musicians eager to perform for their own.  

Haas says "We are really excited to unveil this level of professionalism and quality to the symphonic music lovers of Northwest Arkansas. The opening concert on March 17 will put the recently assembled orchestra through its paces, playing old masterpieces and some incredible recently composed music."

The program repertoire will include:

Brahms:  Symphony No. 4 in E minor
Joshua Penman:  Songs the Plants Taught Us
Mendelssohn:  Violin Concerto E Minor, featuring Liana Gourdjia, violin soloist

***There will be two surprises on the program, not announced in advance***

Pre-Concert Creative Conversation with SoNA Music Director Paul Haas and Walton Arts Center President/CEO Peter Lane at 6:00 P.M. in Starr Theater.

Post-Concert Reception in the lobby for celebratory toasts and St. Patrick's Day cheer.  There you can meet Liana Gourdjia and the SoNA musicians, and Paul Haas will be signing copies of his recently released CD.

The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas is proud to welcome Paul Haas, our new Music Director! 

Paul has a distinguished background, serving as guest conductor for San Antonio Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, among others, as well as festival appearances.  Recently, Paul conducted the National Symphony Orchestra with Itzhak Perlman as soloist.

As former Music Director of the renowned New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), which performs regularly at Carnegie Hall, Paul and the NYYS were awarded the ASCAP-League of American Orchestras Bernstein Award for Educational Programming.  Paul is also the founder and Artistic Director of Sympho, a groundbreaking concert production company.

Read more about Paul here.