Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra

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Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra

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The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra is committed to contributing high quality symphonic music to the seacoast community.

We are dedicated to entertaining, educating, and encouraging the audiences of today and tomorrow. The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra is a 65+ piece orchestra of local professionals, educators, dedicated amateurs and advanced students from the greater Seacoast area. The Orchestra presents three concerts each season at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH.

10/31/2026

Join us tomorrow! Tickets still available at portsmouthsymphony.org.

10/28/2026

The Next Generation: Savannah Hanley, Violin

Savannah Hanley is an eighth grader at Salem Academy Charter School in Massachusetts.

She will be performing Vivaldi’s “Spring” on October 30 along side her current teacher, Ashley Offret, as part of the PSO Chamber Players: An Evening of Timeless Strings concert at The Truett in Dover.

Savannah has been studying violin with Ashley Offret since she was four years old. She is currently listening to Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams and, fittingly, Vivaldi. When she isn’t practicing her violin, Savannah enjoys drawing and spending time with her cats.

More details about the October 30th concert can be found at https://www.portsmouthsymphony.org/event/2026-2027/concerts/pso-chamber-players-an-evening-of-timeless-strings/

10/24/2026

Meet Your Orchestra: Phillip Hyman, Trombone

PSO trombonist Phil Hyman can also regularly be heard playing with the Glens Falls Symphony, Boston Ballet, Lexington Symphony and Springfield Symphony.

He has also performed with the Boston Pops, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, New World Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, and Hartford Symphony.

Phil is a member of Triton Brass and a founding member of the Redline Brass Quintet. A native of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, he attended Susquehanna University, going on to receive his master’s degree from New England Conservatory.

As an educator, Phil serves on the faculty at several institutions including Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, where he is brass coordinator and teaches private lessons, runs sectionals and coaches chamber ensembles. He maintains a low brass studio in Lexington through the Lexington Community Education program as well as in the Ashland School District. He has also served on faculty for Boston University Tanglewood Institute as well as the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.

You can read Phil’s full bio on the PSO website and hear him perform as part of the November 1 Main Stage concert at The Music Hall.

10/18/2026

FROM THE MAESTRO: Over my 15 year tenure with the PSO, the orchestra has challenged itself to ascend to new heights both musically and professionally, season after season.

Together with our audiences, I’ve witnessed firsthand the commitment to excellence and the passion for performing the highest quality classical music that emanates from the stage at each concert.

And so you can perhaps imagine the immense pride I felt when Joshua Bell took the opportunity at a post-concert reception to comment specifically on what a pleasure it was for him to perform with an orchestra so clearly dedicated and enthusiastic about showing up and doing the work it takes to put on a top notch performance.

It was a fitting note on which to begin another season and a wonderful warm up for “The Universe” on November 1 when we will bring the solar system—and all its intense, movie-worthy mystery—to life.

I hope to see you in the concert hall.

~John Page, Music Director

10/17/2026

Of Note: PSO violist and New England Conservatory alumna Wendy Keyes was recently featured in her alma mater’s alumni publication in an article about how she pioneered a cultural transformation in Saudi Arabi.

“When NEC alumna Wendy Williams Keyes ’80 arrived at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in August 2009, public concerts, theater, and music schools were forbidden throughout Saudi Arabia.

Tasked with founding the University’s Office of the Arts on the shores of the Red Sea, Keyes set out to build a vibrant cultural home for an international community representing 126 nationalities.”

Read the full article here: https://alumni.necmusic.edu/news/11575704

10/14/2026

PSO Chamber Players: An Evening of Timeless Strings
October 30 @ 6pm
The Truett, Dover

Travel through centuries of music in an intimate evening showcasing the beauty and versatility of string instruments.

This concert is free for Truette, Orpheum, and Portwalk Place residents and by donation for all others. Non-resident space is limited and seats must be reserve a seat in advance.

Program details and reservations can be made at https://www.portsmouthsymphony.org/event/2026-2027/concerts/pso-chamber-players-an-evening-of-timeless-strings/

10/10/2026

Introducing the PSO Dinner Club!

The music may end, but the evening doesn’t have to with the PSO Dinner Club.

New for the 2026-2027 season, you’ll have the chance to be matched with fellow music lovers for great food, thoughtful conversation and the chance to make new connections beyond the concert hall.

Dinner Clubs will be held after each Main Stage concert this season and tickets are just $15.99 (not including food or drinks).

Here’s how it works:

Take the personality quiz (A quick quiz helps us match you with five compatible people).

We handle the logistics (We book the restaurant and reveal it the morning of).

Enjoy the performance. Settle in and experience the music. Afterward, you’ll have plenty to talk about.

Meet your group for dinner afterward (Head to the restaurant after the concert for good food, conversation, and a chance to get to know the people who shared the experience with you. Ask for your own check or split the tab).

Join us for the first Dinner Club on November 1 following “The Universe.”

Learn more and reserve your seat at https://www.portsmouthsymphony.org/event/2026-2027/concerts/pso-dinner-club/

10/04/2026

Join us this afternoon for "Pulitzer Prize Winners" with the Portsmouth Brass Quintet.

October 4 @ 3pm
Christ Church, Exeter
Admission by donation
Program details at portsmouthsymphony.org

10/02/2026

FROM THE MAESTRO:

Classical music does not happen on its own.

A composer captures and records the music they envision, sharing it so that others may experience it.

Musicians devote themselves to mastering their instruments, bringing two-dimensional notes on a page to life and creating a kind of magic possible only in live performance.

Supporters invest in the work behind the scenes because they believe in music’s power to bring people together.

Audiences choose to buy tickets and gather on the appointed day, bringing an energy to the concert hall that inspires the musicians and helps each performance reach its full potential.

In short: no people, no classical music.

The PSO celebrates all the individuals who choose to give their time, talent, energy and support to make the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra possible.

Thank you for being one of them.

09/28/2026

On Sunday, Oct. 4 @ 3pm, the PSO Chamber Players will perform "Pulitzer Prize Winners" at Christ Church in Exeter.

What does America sound like? In the music of Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, the answer is bold, reflective, joyful and wonderfully varied. Selections from Jennifer Higdon’s “Book of Brass” bursts with brilliant colors and striking contrasts, while selections from George Walker’s “Music for Brass: Sacred and Profane” moves between quiet contemplation and spirited celebration. John Corigliano’s “Gazebo Dances” features lively rhythms, warmth and nostalgia of a summer concert in the town square. The program also brings together the playful sounds of Charles Ives, the driving rhythms of Scott Joplin, and familiar melodies from Copland’s Simple Gifts and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Admission by donation. More details can be found at portsmouthsymphony.org.

Address

PO Box 8391
Portsmouth, NH
03802

Website

http://www.portsmouthsymphony.org/

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