The band’s all back together again.

After three years apart, the strings, brass, winds, and percussion sections of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra will unite as one in perfect harmony for the 2022-2023 concert season.

While last year’s performances mostly featured the strings section with a few brass ensembles, the 50-member musical group will return in full force with five concerts.

“We are excited to come back as a full orchestra and present the 2022-23 season,” said Tigran Arakelyan, the conductor and artistic director for the symphony orchestra.

“Last year was titled ‘Reunited’ because we had the opportunity to reunite with the community, but in a limited capacity. This year, the reunion with the community will be with a full orchestra.”

Arakelyan is an award-winning conductor and educator with a doctorate in musical arts in conducting from the University of Washington. In addition to his work with the symphony orchestra, he is the music director for the Northwest Mahler Festival and executive director of Music Center Northwest.

The Sunday afternoon concerts will be held at the Chimacum High School School Auditorium at 2 p.m. Oct. 30, Dec. 3, Feb. 26, April 30, and the annual chamber concert in June (date to be announced) will be at Finnriver Farm and Cidery. 

While the group’s concerts are free to attend, donations are gratefully accepted. Symphony rehearsals start Tuesday, Sept. 6.

This year’s upcoming season will feature wondrous soloists such as the Seattle Symphony’s principal tuba John DiCesare, who will join the orchestra Oct. 30 for a tuba concerto by British composer Ralph Vaughn Williams. DiCesare is an artist in residence at the University of Washington and has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra.

Pianist Jovino Santos Neto will join the symphony orchestra Feb. 26 to perform his original work, “Milonga de Emilia.”

Neto is a three-time Latin Grammy nominee and one of the most important Brazilian musicians working today, and had his music performed by the Seattle Symphony before. He has led Quinteto and Trio, taught at the Cornish School of Music in Seattle for 26 years.

Born and raised in the Emerald City, bassoonist Ian Schneiderman performs a diverse array of solo, chamber, and orchestral music and will feature in the orchestra’s April 30 concert. Schneiderman has played with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, and the Tacoma City Ballet. He will join the symphony orchestra for Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto. The group will also perform the first movement of Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole with violinist Aliyah Yearian on Dec. 4. Yearian was the 2021 winner of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition.

The orchestra is thrilled to present a wide selection of pieces throughout the season, including works by Amy Beach, the first American female composer to have a symphony published.

The symphony orchestra will also perform Petite Suite for Orchestra by Port Townsend composer Karl Bach, “Overture to Candid” by Leonard Bernstein, “Mysterious Mountain” by Alan Hovhaness, and Symphony No. 8 by Antonin Dvorak.

To see the orchestra’s full schedule and other details, go to ptsymphony.org.