Music From U.S., Austria and Germany

Both the Ventura County Symphony and Conejo Symphony Orchestra have scheduled six concerts in their October to April seasons. Below is a partial list of upcoming concerts:

Saturday, The Ventura County Symphony kicks off its 29th season under the direction of Frank Salazar with a concert called “An Evening in Vienna,” featuring works by Viennese composers of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The concert begins with Haydn’s Symphony No. 48 and music by the Strauss family.

Included is “Marche de Radetsky”; “Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald” (Tales From the Vienna Woods); “Plappermaulchen” (The Chatterbox); and “Bahn Frei” (Fast Track). Don’t be thrown by the scheduling of Alban Berg’s 12-tone Violin Concerto with Soviet violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky. Berg was also Viennese.

On Nov. 3, the orchestra will present a night of American music. Included on the program are “Celebration,” a world premiere by local composer John Biggs; John Adams’ “The Chairman Dances”; Earl Robinson’s “Concerto for Five-String Banjo and Orchestra” with soloist Michael Martin; Katherine Hoover’s “Eleni, a Greek Tragedy” and Anne Harris’ Symphony No. 3.

Both concerts begin at 8:15 p.m. in the Oxnard Civic Auditorium, 800 Hobson Way. Tickets are $10, $15, $19 and $21. For tickets, call 643-8646 or 647-7751.

On Saturday, Oct. 13, The Conejo Symphony Orchestra begins its 30th season, under the direction of Elmer Ramsey, with a concert titled “Bon Voyage to Austria and Germany.” Featured on the program is Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano, violin and cello; “Variations on a Theme by Haydn” by Brahms; Schumann’s “Traumerei” (Dream); the overture to the opera “Oberon” by von Weber; and the overture to Johann Strauss’s “The Gypsy Baron.”

On Nov. 17, the orchestra plays works from France and Spain. The program includes Bizet’s “Carmen Suite”; Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”; Ravel’s “Introduction and Allegro” for harp, flute, clarinet and strings; “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Offenbach; and Monterde’s “La Virgin de la Macarena.”

Both concerts begin at 8 p.m. in the California Lutheran University auditorium. Tickets are $18, $16 and $8. For tickets, call 498-7092.

No concerts are now scheduled by the Camarillo Symphony Orchestra or the Simi Valley Community Orchestra.