Renowned conductor and Springfield Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor Mei-Ann Chen will conduct “A Night in Italy” on October 11 to open our 2025–2026 season, and will join us again for our March 14 concert, “Mendelssohn, Gershwin, & A Woman’s Voice.”
Celebrating Italian heritage through music
The idea for this concert came from a conversation between Maestra Chen and Mayor Sarno about incorporating Italian programming into our concerts. It got her thinking about all of the great symphonic repertoire we could tap into to showcase Italian music beyond opera. We have an opportunity with this theme to feature powerful pieces like Respighi’s Pines of Rome with a surround-sound symphonic experience like no other. Maestra Chen has wanted to incorporate Pines of Rome into programming for some time because it’s an army of sounds onstage and offstage. We are quite literally starting the season with a bang. The audience is going to be in awe, immersed in the universal language of music as it unites us beyond words. Simply put, it’s time to celebrate what a symphony orchestra can sound like.
Featuring the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestras
Maestra Chen also wanted to include Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances: Suite III because she grew up as a string player and wanted to find an opportunity to include members of the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestras. After joining her first orchestra at age 10, she was mesmerized by the role of the conductor.
“I saw the person on the podium when he moved. He helped create the biggest sound. I ran home and told my parents, ‘Piano and violin are fun, but I want to play the biggest instrument in the room. I want to be a conductor.’”
After earning a scholarship to the New England Conservatory to finally fulfill her dream of being a conductor, Maestra Chen found a mentor in Marylou Speaker Churchill of the Boston Symphony who encouraged her to dream big. Maestra Chen would go on to land her first conducting job with the Portland Youth Philharmonic, of which Churchill was an alumna.
Chen now feels compelled to pay it forward by working with and highlighting youth musicians because someone took a chance on her and gave her a path to becoming a successful conductor. She emphasizes the importance of youth orchestra in fostering the value of teamwork. Youth musicians learn to play their instrument, how to lead, how to support, and these skills stay with them for a lifetime as they balance contributing to a team with fostering their creativity. It is fitting that this concert will feature the incredibly talented musicians of the SSYO, as with the beginning of this new season our youth musicians are in the process of writing their own stories for the future.
The Symphony has no limits
For all first-time attendees to the Symphony, Maestra Chen says it is important to come in with an open mind knowing that classical music is not about limitations. It is an ancient art and takes years for these musicians to master their instruments, but the feeling of the orchestra coming together is somewhat similar to them coming together to hold hands at the edge of a cliff. Everybody learns to fly.
Of A Night in Italy she remarks, “We could just play a very safe concert. But it’s so interesting when we are willing to sort of be at the edge. Yes, we’re playing Godfather Suite which people will recognize, but we’re also playing pieces that people may not know. And yet, as I like to say, good music is good music.” Her goal, as with every concert, is to leave the audience speechless.
This concert, along with the entire season lineup, is the perfect chance to come to Symphony Hall and be surprised. We are so excited to go on this musical journey together to tell the stories of the pieces we play, our symphony orchestra, and this beloved community.