Over the course of his tenure directing the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra, Tigran Arakelyan has continually been adding to a “wish list” of musicians and compositions he’d love to feature. This impending performance season of the PTSO promises to check off a number of selections from his list.

Arakelyan stepped up to his current post on the orchestra in the fall 2017 after auditioning for the role that spring. Each new season has made him feel grateful to present “great performances” for this community, with “such talented musicians.”

“What I love about Port Townsend and Chimacum audiences is that they can appreciate and accept all kinds of music, that other audiences might not be as open to hearing,” Arakelyan said. “This allows us to play music that might not be played as often, but which is worth being heard.”

The PTSO fall season for 2024 kicks off with a pair of weekend concerts, with the official full-fledged concert kicking off at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, in the Chimacum High School auditorium at 91 West Valley Road, to be preceded by an open dress rehearsal at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25, with both performances free of charge to the public.

The October concerts feature Seattle-based percussionist and composer Ben Thomas. Arakelyan has known him for a decade, long enough to praise him as “passionate” and “fantastic” in his musical skills, which also include playing the bandoneon, a concertina-like instrument that’s popular in tango music.

Thomas regularly tours with the Atlas Tango Project, and although he’s built up five albums of original music spanning tango, jazz and chamber music, the PTSO October concerts will see the premiere of a new work by Thomas, whose music has been noted for exploring the growth of traditional tango, resulting from its exposure to new influences over the years.

Thomas’ piece, “Three Pieces for Bandoneon and Orchestra,” is made up of three movements: “Sonia’s Mask,” “Promise of Morning” and “Red Trimmed Tide.”

Thomas has taught music theory, composition and performance at Highline College in Des Moines, Washington, since 2001.

Arakelyan also expressed enthusiasm for being able to play “Blue Cathedral” by Jennifer Higdon, whom he noted is one of the most acclaimed contemporary classical composers, having racked up a Pulitzer Prize in 2010 and three Grammy Awards.

“Blue Cathedral” was commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and now ranks among Higdon’s most popular pieces.

Among the October concerts’ other selections are the “Carnival Overture” by Antonin Dvorak, meant to evoke pre-Lenten celebrations, such as Mardi Gras, that occur around the world, as well as “Dances in the Canebrakes” by Florence Price, which moves from ragtime to a slower tango rhythm, followed by a popular cakewalk dance. All of it was originally written for the piano before being orchestrated by William Grant Still.

“In the Steppes of Central Asia” rounds out the program, having been composed by Alexander Borodin — one of “The Five” Russian composers in the late 1800s who created a national style of Russian music — after being commissioned for the Silver Jubilee of Tsar Alexander II in 1880.

The fall season of the PTSO is the latest development in a year that kicked off with Arakelyan being named among the “Top 30 Professionals of the Year” by Musical America Worldwide. That came after being named among the “40 Under 40” for Washington state by 425 Business magazine, earlier in 2023.