Civic Center Music Hall

Founded in 1988, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic provides inspiration and pleasure to the community through orchestral music. With a mission of enriching lives through cultural exposure to music, the Philharmonic serves as a leader for positive community development and growth. The Philharmonic offers a concert season from September through May –packed with eight classic concerts and six pair of pop concerts.

Classics concerts offer symphonies, concertos and other classical music works. Most classical concerts feature an internationally acclaimed guest artist who plays a solo piece with the orchestra. Then, the pop concerts feature orchestral music that includes music from light rock, jazz, film soundtracks and Broadway musicals.

The 2010-2011 Classic season will feature some amazing musicians, starting things off with Peter Serkin on opening night (9/18). Serkin was a Grammy award winner at age 19 and has since become a legendary pianist.  Other concerts planned for this season include folk dances and celebrations with Philippe Quint, Concerning Heaven and Earth with Sari Gruber and much more. Then, the more current celebration of pop culture will cumulate during the 2010-2011 Pop season with the first performance by Michael Cavanaugh who will perform the music of Billy Joel.

Tickets can be purchased for a single show or for an entire season, see the attached OKC Philharmonic document for seating chart and pricing information, tickets range from $40-$340.  There’s also a happy middle ground package called the Flex-4, allowing you the flexibility of attending any four concerts with the best available seating. However, there is no guarantee of seating availability. Tickets to any of the shows can be purchased online, by phone and at the three box office locations.

In additional to the adult season, there is also a variety of educational outreach concerts for the community that are focused on providing area school aged children the experience of professional orchestra entertainment including  the holiday musical special—A Very Merry Pops.

The discovery family series is a mini orchestra experience designed for children ages 4-13 years-old and is offered on three designated Sundays at 2 p.m. each season. Single tickets are $9 per concert and season tickets for the three-concert series are $21. An hour before each concert, children can enjoy some hands-on fun in the lobby with the instrument playground for a chance to try out some of the orchestral instruments including trumpets, flutes, cello and more. To make the concert series even more fun, children can join the Chill Harmonic Kid’s Club for $18. With a paid Kid’s Club membership, each child receives a t-shirt, birthday card in the mail, a member’s only party and a special gift at each concert.

HelloOklahomaCity Tip: The Oklahoma City Philharmonic also offers a range of classes for adults, children and families. The Be the Orchestra series includes all levels of violin, viola, cello and bass. There are also internship opportunities, master classes with professional artists and the annual Musical Olympics completion for young musicians each February.

OKC Philharmonic

- by Jennifer Pruett, Oklahoma City Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Jennifer Pruett

A self proclaimed “queen of everything," Jennifer is a writer, planner and passionate lover of making exciting events extra special. As a creative mother of two she loves art, music, family, friends, exotic cuisine and exploring new areas of self improvement. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal studies from the University of Oklahoma and has been writing restaurant and attraction reviews in the Phoenix Metro area since January, 2009.