Berlioz, Brahms, Stravinsky and Emanuel Ax: What an exciting way to open my 20th anniversary season with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra (ASO). They say time flies when you are having fun, and I can say that the years have certainly flown by as I have worked with this fabulous orchestra, our supportive board of directors, and our enthusiastic subscribers and audience members.

I hope to have you all on the edge of your seats from the opening chords of the fiery and exciting “Roman Carnival Overture” by Hector Berlioz, with its famous lyrical English Horn solo and toe-taping dance melodies accented by the tambourine, to the grandeur and orchestral colors of Stravinsky’s debut ballet, “The Firebird.”

As much as I love both of these opening pieces, though, the highlight of the ASO opening concerts, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 and 3 p.m. Sept. 27, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown, will be the performance of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, featuring renowned pianist Emanuel Ax.

Emanuel Ax is a favorite soloist of the New York Philharmonic, having performed with them hundreds of times. Born in Poland, he lived in Canada and moved to New York where he attended the Juilliard School. He first captured international attention when he won the Arthur Rubinstein International Competition and then the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists followed by an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Throughout his career, he has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world and is known as one of the finest pianists living and performing today.

Normally, to hear an artist of this caliber and fame, you would have to drive to New York or Philadelphia, and pay very high prices for both your parking at the venue and your concert tickets. Instead, we offer you the wonderful opportunity of hearing Emanuel Ax perform at Miller Symphony Hall with our very own Allentown Symphony Orchestra where prices range from $20 - $60 and students are free.

And what better piece to have Emanuel Ax play than the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Brahms. This concerto, beloved by all, is a tour de force for any pianist and showcases Ax’s amazing technique and musicality.

Johannes Brahms was a composer sometimes mocked in his own time because he was too “predictable” and “old-fashioned,” compared to Wagner and Liszt, who were setting new trends and pushing the musical boundaries of the era. After the disastrous premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1, it would be more than 20 more years before Brahms would write his second, and last, piano concerto. By the time the piece was begun in 1878, Brahms, now more confident and mature, was securely established as one of the leading composers in Germany and the world.

Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, was rumored by Brahms himself to be a “tiny, tiny piano concerto, with a wisp of a scherzo.” This description was obviously tongue-in-cheek, because in reality, the piece is one of the longest and most difficult to perform piano concertos in the repertoire.

Set in an unusual grouping of four movements instead of the customary three, Brahms inserts a dramatic scherzo, which he had originally conceptualized for his violin concert but then discarded, as the musical material for the second movement.

Two of the most memorable moments of this piano concerto, besides the amazing writing for the piano itself, are the haunting opening horn melody that sets the stage for the entire work, and the beautiful lyrical solo performed by the principal cellist in the slow third movement.

The concerto ends with an exuberant final movement that is a great conclusion for our ASO season-opening blockbuster concert. I am sure that Emanuel Ax will play it in a way that we will all remember for years to come. What a wonderful way to start my 20th anniversary season with the ASO.

Diane Wittry is Music Director-Conductor of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director (USA), International Cultural Exchange Program for Classical Musicians, Sarajevo Philharmonic, Bosnia; and author, “Beyond the Baton” and “Baton Basics” (both, Oxford University Press).

Allentown Symphony Orchestra concert tickets: Miller Symphony Hall Box Office, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown; allentownsymphony.org; 610-432-6715