Join Us in Welcoming Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra’s New Executive Director
Earlier this year, the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra (PSO) became our resident orchestra, and Susanne Powers became PSO’s executive director. We sat down with Susanne to talk about the partnership and the New Year’s Eve Champagne Pops event on December 31.
In addition to playing with many other orchestras and groups, you have played with PSO for two seasons now—what role does music and the arts play in the community?
Portsmouth is a vibrant and creative community that I am just beginning to discover. The variety and quality of arts events and genres are exciting and inspire me to explore the arts scene in Portsmouth more fully. I guess it can be a danger to assume that only large metropolitan cities are leaders in the arts, but this is clearly not so, as I am discovering right here in Portsmouth. Of course, each person has a unique experience in any given setting, but one thing is a constant: Music connects us to ourselves and as such it enables us to connect with each other, for example in a collective experience like a symphony concert. Music wakes us up, it makes us think and feel, it opens minds and makes authentic connections possible. I believe a vibrant arts culture raises the social intellect and well-being of any community. An excellent Symphony orchestra, with a world-class conductor, in a gorgeous venue, that is also an innovative and forward-thinking arts organization, gives our community much to be excited about.
What are you most excited about in your new role as ED?
As a concert violinist, I have spent the majority of my career creating beautiful music for audiences and I will continue to do so as I am also Associate Concertmaster of the PSO. As Executive Director, I become part of an awesome team that strives to deepen the audience’s experience with the music we perform and also to introduce new audiences to the power of the symphonic experience. I see my role as ED as an extension of the creation of the music on stage. I am excited about meeting people, hearing their responses to the concerts, and expanding our reach to people who might come for the first time. I want as many people as possible to experience the magic of music. It can lift entire communities.
What can we look forward to with this season’s line up?
This season is gorgeous from top to bottom. Our Music Director John Page has hand-picked a repertoire that offers every audience member something unique. For the seasoned classical music listener, this season brings the joy and power of hearing beloved masterpieces in full symphonic glory, live at The Music Hall, and maybe with an added fresh twist that helps us re-discover what we thought knew. For our newer audience members, it offers unrivaled beauty that is emotionally stirring and indescribably beautiful, which can be enjoyed and loved the first time. For example Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, a work of such sweeping and lyrical beauty that it will touch every single one of our patrons, or Beethoven’s Eroica, a masterpiece that can be enjoyed at face value, but which is also a work that broke every classical music rule of the time and after which nothing was ever the same again. Or the New World Symphony, deeply moving, tender, grandiose, exuberant and sweeping all at the same time, but also ingeniously crafted in such detail that will keep the audience on its toes.
How has becoming The Music Hall’s resident orchestra made a difference in the PSO’s program?
We are thrilled to be deepening our relationship with the Music Hall as Resident Orchestra. The PSO and The Music Hall both have a deep commitment to the community and to presenting the highest quality art programming to the Seacoast audience. In the case of the PSO, this means the full symphonic experience that belongs on a gorgeous stage!
The support and recognition of the Portsmouth Symphony as The Music Hall’s resident orchestra means both organizations can work towards a common goal: to present the community with concerts of such a high level that the experience can truly become transformative and leave a lasting and positive impact on the culture of Portsmouth.
What are you most looking forward to at the New Year’s Eve Champagne Pops?
What’s not to love? The glamour, the champagne, the waltzes! An event like this is long overdue in Portsmouth, and it will be the best entertainment and classy fun you will find anywhere. John Page is a masterful musician and his charisma will bring the house down well before midnight! This concert is an exciting new project for both PSO and The Music Hall and is a wonderful example of how the two organizations can collaborate to provide a sparkling opportunity for our community to ring in the new year.