The Pegasus Orchestra is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a concert in Stamford later this month. The performance is also part of the 40th anniversary season of Friends of Music of Stamford.
Pegasus was founded by conductor and harpsichordist Karen Hakobyan, who says the ensemble was designed to combine the sound of an orchestra with the intimacy and flexibility of chamber music.
“One of our ideas for Pegasus was to be able to bring Symphony Hall to the people and spaces that normally would not be able to fit a full orchestra,” Hakobyan says. “It's bringing the orchestral sounds, but in a more chamber music, close-knit approach. So basically, we get the best of the two worlds.”
For the anniversary concert, Hakobyan has selected music that highlights three of the orchestra's principal musicians: concertmaster Ruggero Allifranchini, principal oboist Noah Kay, and principal cellist Ari Evan.
Hakobyan will conduct from the harpsichord during the first half of the program. Allifranchini and Kay will join forces for Bach's Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe, followed by Haydn's G Major Violin Concerto, featuring Allifranchini.
The second half of the concert moves into the 20th century and beyond, beginning with Azarashvili's Cello Concerto, performed by Evan. Hakobyan says the relatively unfamiliar work is one she believes audiences will find rewarding.
“It's really a piece worth hearing,” she says.
Bach's Arioso will provide a brief transition before the orchestra concludes with Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony.
Hakobyan says the concert reflects Pegasus's original philosophy of bringing together musicians who have individual artistic voices and extensive solo careers.
“It was almost like starting a chamber ensemble,” she says. “Focusing on the collaborations and working with musicians who have very active chamber and solo careers and their individualistic ideas.”
Over the past decade, Pegasus has grown from smaller ensembles into an orchestra that can include nearly 50 players. Hakobyan says that despite its size, the ensemble maintains its chamber music approach.
“That chamber music-like approach of thinking of the music and how we shape things still remains,” she says.
The anniversary season will continue with performances featuring Prokofiev, Nielsen, Kodály, Shostakovich, Brahms, and a collaboration with another organization celebrating its own 50th anniversary.
The season finale in May will be particularly ambitious: Pegasus plans to perform all five Saint-Saëns piano concertos in a single evening at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, with five different soloists. The orchestra also plans to make its first commercial recording, following that concert.
Pegasus Orchestra's tenth anniversary concert takes place Sunday, September 27, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 96 Main Street in Stamford. More information is available at friendsmusic.org.