Power of music: Valley Symphony Orchestra coming to Brownsville

The Valley Symphony Orchestra is coming to Brownsville for the first time since 2021, with a performance of music from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and George Gershwin’s “Piano Concerto in F,” with Music Director Peter Dabrowski conducting and pianist Tanya Gabrielian featured as guest soloist.

The event takes place at the Texas Southmost College Performing Arts Center on March 23 beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $22.

David Lobel, executive director, said the symphony is able to offer such low ticket prices thanks to support from the event’s sponsors. The concert is being presented by the Bert Ogden Auto Group and supported by a grant from the Rio Grande Valley Philanthropic Foundation, plus support from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation.

Typically, the cost to see a full symphony in a good venue with an eminent guest soloist is “pretty substantial,” Lobel said. Further, the original score from “Sorcerer’s Stone” to be performed was written by composer John Williams, who scored every “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” movie as well as “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan” and dozens more of the most well-known movies in history.

Meanwhile, the “Piano Concerto in F” is a classic piano concerto from one of the most famous American composers to have ever lived, Lobel said, adding that even people who aren’t familiar with symphonic music and have never heard a live symphony concert before are likely to be impressed.

“Great music is great music, no matter what your entry point is as far as what style you like, what genres you like,” Lobel said. “Seeing a full symphony is an absolutely amazing thing, just seeing all the musicians — 60 to 80 musicians on stage — all in sync playing together, there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like that power. Regardless if you’re into jazz or heavy metal or hip hop or whatever, seeing a symphony live is an incredible thing.”

In addition to the financial support, the Brownsville Convention and Visitors Bureau has been extremely helpful in distributing posters and handbills for the event downtown, he said.

Founded in 1952, Valley Symphony Orchestra is headquartered in McAllen and regularly performs at the McAllen Performing Arts Center. Dabrowski has served as music director/conductor since 2001. The symphony has been to Brownsville “every few years, sort of randomly it seems,” though an effort is afoot to make Brownsville performances more frequent, Lobel said.

“I think if we can show there’s market demand and that there can be potential growth, then we want to live up to the name of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, to make sure we’re not just performing in McAllen,” he said.

Tickets are available here: bit.ly/PPBVILLE.