Events

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Fêtes (Festivals) from Nocturnes 

While commonly considered the founder of Impressionist music, Debussy rejected the use of the term to describe his music. He instead felt his work was more influenced by Symbolist poet, Stephané Mallarmé and the artistic and literary figures he encountered in the 1880s at Mallarmeé’s famous Tuesday evening salons, including Paul Verlaine, Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Pierre Louÿs, Gustave Kahn, Paul Valéry, and celebrated foreigners such as James McNeill Whistler, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Stefan George.
However one decides to label him, Debussy’s expertise at creating tone-colors from various combinations of instruments and tendency to fit short melodic fragments together like pieces of stained glass, allowed him to express fleeting sensations and delicate, drifting emotions.

The middle movement of his Nocturnes triptych, Fêtes depicts the recollection of youthful merry-making in the Bois de Boulogne, a sprawling wooded park on the western edge of Paris, reflecting, according to Debussy, “the movement, the restless dancing rhythms of the atmosphere, interspersed with brusque bursts of light. There is also the episode of a process—a dazzling and wholly visionary pageant—passing through the festival and blended with it. But the background of uninterrupted festival persists with its mixture of music and luminous dust participating in the universal rhythm.”

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)  
The Firebird: Suite (1919)

It’s intriguing to speculate how the history of music in the last century would have been altered if the ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev had not decided to gamble on a young, relatively unknown composer. Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes—which the Russian émigré had established in Paris—was just starting to take the West by storm, and Diaghilev wanted a splendid new production for the climax of its second season in 1910. His initial plans for better-known composers fell through, so, on a hunch, he gave the commission to Stravinsky, who was then in his late 20s. It was a risk for everyone concerned, since The Firebird would be the first production by the emerging ballet company to feature an entirely new score.

Despite his stated dislike of the subject because it “demanded descriptive music of a kind I did not want to write,” Stravinsky seized the opportunity, setting aside his opera, The Nightingale, whose first act he had recently completed. “I had already begun to think about The Firebird when I returned to St. Petersburg from Ustilug in the autumn of 1909,” he wrote, “although I was not yet certain of the commission (which in fact did not come until December, more than a month after I had begun to compose; I remember the day Diaghilev telephoned me to say to go ahead, and my telling him I already had).
“Early in November, I moved from St. Petersburg to a dacha belonging to the Rimsky-Korsakov family about 70 miles south-east of the city. I went there for a vacation, a rest in birch forests and snow-fresh air, but instead began to work on the Firebird. I returned to St. Petersburg in December and remained there, until in March I had finished the composition. The orchestra score was ready a month later, and the complete music mailed to Paris by mid-April. I was flattered, of course, at the promise of a performance of my music in Paris, and my excitement at arriving in that city, towards the end of May, could hardly have been greater.” The June 25, 1910 premiere was a glittering triumph which launched Stravinsky into the front rank of contemporary composers.

The ballet is based on the Russian legend of the Firebird, a powerful good spirit whose feathers convey beauty and protection upon the earth. Other characters from Russian lore include the heroic Prince Ivan Tsarevich and the evil sorcerer Kastchei, from whom Ivan must rescue the princess he loves. It is only through the intervention of the Firebird, whose life he spares early in the ballet, that Ivan is able to destroy Kastchei and his followers and marry the princess. Part of his first creative period, Stravinsky’s score shows the influence of the colorful, folk-based style favored by his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov.
Stravinsky arranged three suites from the full score of The Firebird, in 1911, 1919 and 1945. Tonight, the BSO performs the second of these, which is by far the most popular. Containing roughly half the music of the complete score, the 1919 suite follows the original sequence of the ballet.

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Violin Concerto 

Sketched in just eleven days and orchestrated a mere two weeks later in March and April 1878, Tchaikovsky’s only violin concerto sat unperformed for almost four years because the original dedicatee—renowned Hungarian violinist and pedagogue Leopold Auer—thought the work too long and some of the violin writing awkward and difficult. Indeed, it took the eventual dedicatee, Adolf Brodsky, almost two years to study the work before its premiere on December 4, 1881, in Vienna.

The audience reaction was mixed: many hated the concerto’s (then) audacious novelties, others were excited by its Russian-Gypsy exoticisms. The press reaction was almost entirely negative, led by leading critic Eduard Hanslick’s scathing review which declared, “the violin is no longer played; it is yanked about, it is torn asunder, it is beaten black and blue.” Ignoring this initial backlash, Brodsky determinedly championed the work with repeated performances in London and Moscow, and as musical tastes evolved in the 20th century, audiences and critics began to embrace the concerto’s emotional richness, technical brilliance, and lyrical beauty. Frequent performances and influential recordings by later virtuosos, such as Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz, helped establish it as a cornerstone of the violin repertoire and one of the most beloved concertos of all time.

The concert will showcase 80 minutes of music and will include a 20-minute intermission.

Whenever you want! Seriously, the tradition of clapping only at the end of pieces was only for a short time in the history of music. Typically, people like to clap after a great solo in a jazz tune, an impressive dance move, or after a great movement (section) in a symphony. If you really like a piece, clap at the end of the movement and yell "encore" if you want to hear more. (We love playing encores!)

Reserved Seating:

Tier 1 ticket - $77
Tier 2 ticket - $70
Tier 3 ticket - $61
Tier 4 ticket $45

Under 30/Student:

Tier 2 ticket - $39
Tier 3 ticket - $34
Tier 4 ticket - $20

*all ticket prices do not include box office fees

Tickets start at $45 for adults, $20 for under 30 and students, and go up to $77 based on the seat location. The least expensive seats are in the back of the balcony and the front row closest to the stage.

Here are some other helpful tips you should keep in mind:

• Interested in additional savings? Buy a subscription! Contact us at 406-252-3610 or visit our offices at 2820 2nd Avenue North and we'd be more than happy to find the best deal for you. Subscriptions for our 2025–2026 season are available!
• If you’re a student, veteran, or active duty military, be sure to bring your student/VA/Military ID for great discounts!

Third-party tickets are not accepted. All tickets must be purchased through the Alberta Bair Theater Box Office.

More than anything, we want you to have fun and express your own style when you come to the Billings Symphony, so dress in a way that works for you. Some people love dressing up and going out—if that’s you, do it and you won’t be the only one, we promise. If you prefer to be more casual, then you probably won’t be the only one dressed casually, either. In short, you do you, and we’re just glad you’re joining us.

On-Street Parking

On City streets, there is both metered parking and posted parking. Metered parking times range from 2 hours to 10 hours and is free after 5 pm and on weekends.

There are two free handicap parking spots on the corner of North Broadway in front of U.S. Bank.

Garages

Park 1
Credit/Debit Cards Only. Located at 2912 Third Avenue North and is open to the public 24-hours per day – the office is open Monday through Friday, from 10:30am-6:30pm. There is free parking on Sundays.

Park 2
Credit/Debit Cards Only. Located at 2651 First Avenue North, Park 2 is open to patrons 24-hours per day – the office is open from 7:15am – 11:00pm, Monday through Saturday.

Park 3
Accepts Cash. Located adjacent to City Hall at 210 North 27th Street and is open 7am-11pm – the office is open Monday through Friday from 10:30am – 6:30pm. There is free parking on Sundays.

Park 4
Located at 515 North 31st Street. The garage and office are open only Monday through Friday from 5:30am – 9:30pm. After 9:30pm, parkers are unable to remove their vehicles from the garage.