The Aiken Symphony presents its first Masterworks concert of the 2025-26 season, featuring violinist Isabel Ong on Sibelius’s heart-wrenching Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s lively Fourth Symphony. This performance of two of the Romantic period’s greatest hits will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at the Etherredge Center.

Dr. Isabel Ong is an avid chamber musician with a passion for contemporary music and a strong advocate for using the power of music to serve a greater humanitarian purpose. She has performed at major venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, National Sawdust, and MOMA. An equally dedicated teacher, Ong is on faculty at SUNY Fredonia, Mercyhurst University, Buffalo String Works, and Point CounterPoint. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard and her doctorate from the University of South Carolina, where she studied with violinist Dr. Ari Streisfeld, who was previously a soloist with the Aiken Symphony in 2022.

Jean Sibelius is considered the greatest Finnish composer of all time, a reputation cemented by his orchestral works such as “Finlandia,” his eight symphonies, and the Violin Concerto in D Minor. It was the only concerto for any instrument he had written, becoming one of the most beloved violin concerti across historical and modern audiences. The music boasts passages evocative of icy, desolate landscapes and tear-jerking, romantic outbursts, complete with virtuosic passages only navigable by violinists with the highest technical prowess.

The dramaticism and emotional intensity of Sibelius’s concerto are also shared by Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor. The Russian composer, most well-known for his ballets The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, also wrote six incredible symphonies. His fourth was unquestionably inspired by the ideas of fate, happiness, and melancholy, expertly woven together throughout four movements. In 1888, he expressed about the work, “I am filled with warm and sympathetic feelings towards [the fourth symphony] …presently it seems to me that this is my best symphonic work.”

Tickets: Single tickets are $45 or $60, depending on seat selection. Active military members can receive $10 off per ticket, and students under the age of 25 are eligible for a student rate of $10. To inquire about these discounts, please contact the office at 803.295.0313. Tickets are available via the website (aikensymphony.com) or by contacting the number above. They can be printed at home, picked up at the venue one hour before the concert starts, or received on one’s mobile device and presented to an usher.

Parking: Free parking is available in parking lots “C” and “D” adjacent to the Etherredge Center.

Pre-Concert Talk “Illuminations”: Join Dr. Scott Weiss in the Main Theatre at 6:30 p.m. on the concert day for an engaging discussion about the performance.

2025-26 MASTERWORKS SERIES
All Masterworks performances are held in the Etherredge Center at USC Aiken.

Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
TCHAIKOVSKY &
SIBELIUS
Isabel Ong, violin
Sibelius – Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4

Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
FIFTHS OF BEETHOVEN
Albert Cano Smit, piano
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”
Beethoven – Symphony No. 5

Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
MENDELSSOHN’S
ITALIAN SYMPHONY
Laurie Baynard, flute
John Wickey, harp
Mozart – Concerto for Flute and Harp
Jessie Montgomery – Strum
Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 4 “Italian”

Sunday, May 3, 2026, 3 p.m.
BRAHMS & SCHUMANN
Risa Hokamura, violin
Schumann – Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish”
Brahms – Violin Concerto

2025-26 CHAMBER SERIES
All Chamber Series performances are held at the Amentum Center for the Performing Arts.

Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
FROM AIKEN TO VIENNA AND
BACK
Daniel Adam Maltz, fortepiano
Mozart – Keyboard Sonata No. 17 in B-flat Major, K. 570
Haydn – Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Hob. I:6
Beethoven – Andante in F Major, WoO 57
Haydn – Keyboard Concerto in D Major, Hob. XVIII:11

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
SCHUBERT’S
OCTET
Schubert – Octet

2025-26 POPS SERIES
All Pops Series performances are held in the Etherredge Center at USC Aiken.

Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Featuring music from the holiday season,
including Winter from Vivaldi’s “The Four
Seasons”

Saturday, Mar. 28, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
MOVIE NIGHT!
Featuring music from The Lord of the Rings,
War Horse, The Pirates of the Caribbean,
Saving Private Ryan, E.T., The Magnificent
Seven, Hook and more!