Argentinian violinist Tomás Cotik will return to Pendleton as part of Oregon East Symphony’s annual Chamber Music Festival in April 2025.

PENDLETON — In the wee hours of Tuesday, July 16, Oregon East Symphony conductor Beau Benson took to the organization’s social media accounts to post a video announcement

In the self-edited video, the conductor shared details about the symphony’s concerts planned for his 12th season with the rural professional orchestra. The 2024-25 season includes further forays into presenting concert programming in the Hermiston area, continuing its practice of performing works by Native American composers, featuring instrumental and vocal soloists from across the Pacific Northwest and internationally, and highlighting the talented young musicians of Eastern Oregon.

The season opener of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will feature two performances — Nov. 9 in the Hermiston High School auditorium and Nov. 10 at the Vert Auditorium in Pendleton. The fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth is the chorale work popularly known as “Ode to Joy,” which will be performed by the OES Chorale under the direction of rehearsal director Carly Elder.

Soloists for “Ode to Joy” include Shahayla Ononaiye (soprano), Allison Swensen Mitchell (alto), Chris Leonard (tenor), and Gabe Elder (bass). The OES Chorale will be joined for both performances by the advanced-level choirs of Hermiston High School under the direction of Jordan Bemrose.

The OES Chorale is a non-auditioned chorale that will begin weekly rehearsals on Sept. 16. For more information about joining the OES Chorale, call 541-276-0320 or email info@oregoneastmphony.org.

The Holiday Music Festival on Dec. 8 will feature a variety of community vocal and music ensembles celebrating the season through song. This year, the Sunridge Middle School choir, under the direction of choir instructor Carly Elder, will perform Benjamin Britten’s collection of songs “Friday Afternoons.” Also performing will be the Pendleton Men’s Chorus, the Sisters in Song Women’s Choir and Hermiston Brass Quintet.

The Spring Concert (March 16, 2025) will feature the Oregon premier of Navajo composer Connor Chee’s “Concerto for Bassoon and Strings” with soloist Jacqueline Wilson. Wilson, who is from the Yakama Tribe and assistant professor of bassoon at Washington State University, commissioned the concerto with support from Artist Trust. The concert will include performances of Richard Strauss’s “Metamorphosen” and Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 3.”

The Chamber Music Festival (April 12, 2025) is the symphony’s annual pairing of wine and hors d’oeuvres with chamber music. It will feature OES harpist Chelsea Spence-Crane performing “Suite from the Victorian Kitchen Garden” by Paul Reade and the return of violinist Tomás Cotik. The Argentinian violinist, who is professor of violin at Portland State University, was OES’s featured soloist for its spring 2023 performance of Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.”

The season finale concert (June 8, 2025) will feature performances of Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” and Jean Sibelius’s Seventh Symphony. The mysterious “Enigma Variations” is noted for each movement in the work being dedicated to a friend and the entire piece being a cipher which the composer referred to as a “dark saying.” The musical cryptogram has puzzled classical music goers for more than a century and has been the subject of much speculation without resolution.

Through a season sponsorship from the Pendleton Foundation Trust, OES will continue offering free, unreserved floor-level seating to its large concerts.

Additionally, the Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Education Director Zach Banks, will present two free concerts at the Vert — the Winter Concert on Jan. 23, 2025, and the Spring Concert on May 15, 2025.

Season ticket packages are available at the symphony office, 345 SW Fourth St., Pendleton, at www.OregonEastSymphony.org or by calling 541-276-0320.