Spectacular!

Scott Speck, conductor

Saturday, October 10, 2026 – 7:30 PM
Sunday, Ocotber 11, 2026 – 2:30 PM
Saenger Theatre

This concert, including intermission, is approximately 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Please review the venue’s security policies including the use of clear bags/purses only by clicking here.

Program

Hector Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture
(1803-1869)

Kenji Bunch: Symphony No. 1 “Lichtenstein Triptych”*
(b. 1973)

INTERMISSION

Modest Mussorgsky, arr. Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition 
(1839-1881)

*The presentation of this work is made possible by a generous donation to MSO’s Symphonic Innovations Fund

Bring the kids for FREE on Sunday!

Through MSO’s Big Red Ticket program, sponsored by Alabama Power Foundation and the Figures Foundation, students in grades K-12 can attend any classical Sunday matinee FREE when accompanied by a paying adult. It’s a great cultural opportunity and an amazing concert experience! Seats are limited, so please purchase tickets by phone at (251)432-2010. Please no children under 5 and no babies in arms. Want to bring a student on a Saturday? Student tickets are just $10.

Speck Speaks

Music Director Scott Speck Discusses the Concert

“To open the season, we revisit one of the MSO’s early heroes. You may remember that our former Composer-in-Residence Kenji Bunch composed a major work for the MSO, his Symphony no. 2 (“Jubilee”), which we premiered back in 2008. But we have never performed the First Symphony from this immensely talented composer — and I’ve always wanted to tackle it. 

This symphony, which Kenji called the “Lichtenstein Triptych,” pays musical tribute to Roy Lichtenstein, that leading Pop artist best known for his huge paintings inspired by comic books. Kenji decided to depict three of these paintings, creating a fast-slow-fast structure so common in classical music. “Varoom!” explodes like a cartoon bomb. “We Rose Up Slowly” shows a young couple coming up for air after a long romantic kiss. “In the Car” shows another couple on a ride; a well-dressed driver in a suit and tie looks intently sideways at his companion in a fur coat, who stares straight ahead. Kenji’s music perfectly captures both the drama (or melodrama) of these scenes, and the cartoonish, jazzy, mid-20th century “mod” atmosphere that they evoke.

In looking for two companion works to play with Kenji’s minor masterpiece, we decided to go all in on the relationship between music and visual art. Mussorgsky’s incredibly evocative Pictures at an Exhibition, which we last played nearly a decade ago, portrays the whimsical, fantastical, sometimes monstrous creations of artist Viktor Hartmann. Maurice Ravel’s over-the-top orchestration of Mussorgsky’s music shows off our musicians to spectacular effect. And we pay tribute to the art of sculpture with Roman Carnival, a wild and vibrant Mardi Gras celebration during the lifetime of Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. 

For any orchestra, it’s a challenge — and a whole lot of fun — to play three such different challenging works on the same program. And we hope that for you, each composition will have something to say not only on its own, but also in conversation with the other two. These are pieces that speak to each other, and the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

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