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There’s Mozart, Schumann and Strauss, to be sure. Dvorak, Beethoven and Prokofiev are also among the favored composers in the Peoria Symphony Orchestra’s just-released repertoire for its 2010/2011 season. But with a new music director, local music lovers should expect some new classical offerings, as well - including pieces by Peoria composers from the past and present.

“I like to think of programming as creating a wonderful recipe,” said George Stelluto, who was named the PSO’s music director on June 24. “You combine the best of local and regional ingredients with exotic things you find on your travels to create a sound palate that people not only enjoy but remember. I want people to experience the concert, not just hear it.”

The PSO season opens on September 18 and features a fanfare written by John Orfe, an Assistant Professor of Music at Bradley University who has won numerous ASCAP awards. Also on that evening’s program are Wagner’s Meistersinger Overture, William Schuman’s Symphony No. 5 and Dvorak’s ninth symphony, “From the New World.”

The October 23d concert takes the audience to Russia, opening with contemporary composer Elena Roussanova Lucas’ Russian Fanfare and Celebration Music. Prokofiev’s final masterpiece, Symphony No. 7 follows, and pianist Terrence Wilson (winner of a SONY ES Award for Musical Excellence) closes the concert with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Fans of Amadeus will appreciate the concert on November 13, as it features four distinct styles of Mozart’s work. The concert opens with the comic Der Schauspieldirektor, and Opera Scenes and Arias follows. After intermission, fifteen year-old violinist Anna Lee (who performed on NPR’s “From the Top” from Carnegie Hall at age 13) performs the Violin Concerto No. 3, and then vocalists will take the stage for the finale, Mozart’s Coronation Mass.

On January 15, the audience will be treated to ballet music both new and old, as well as masterworks from the 19th and 20th centuries. Opening the concert is Darius Milhaud’s 1923 ballet music Creation du Monde, followed by Ernest Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 1.

The second half of the concert belongs to Beethoven, with the overture to the ballet Creatures of Prometheus followed by what the composer called “my little symphony in F,” his cheerful Symphony No. 8.

On February 19, the Symphony welcomes Joseph Johnson, principal cellist of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, for his interpretation of Schumann’s Concerto for Cello in A minor. Opening the concert is Path of Echoes by award-winning contemporary composer Huang Roa, and Schumann’s mastery continues in the second half with his Symphony No. 3.

Another Concerto Grosso opens the March 26 concert; this one by contemporary composer Ellen Taffe Zwilich. Then, one of the finest oboe players in the world, Alex Klein, takes the stage for a performance of Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto. In 2002, Mr. Klein won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra for his recording of this concerto with the Chicago Symphony. The music of Richard Strauss returns in the second half with his Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

The season’s final concert on April 16 brings the music of another Peorian, an exciting new operatic work by a young composer, and two well-loved favorites of the concert hall. First is the medley of Three Movie Songs by Richard Whiting, a Peorian who found fame in Hollywood in the 1920’s and 30’s writing music for film. Then, Grammy Award-nominated violinist Phillipe Quint performs Eric Korngold’s soaring Violin Concerto, and after intermission, young composer Armand Ranjbaran’s Justice, an operatic work based on comic super heroes, is given its first voice outside of New York City. The season comes to a close with selections from one of the most beautiful ballet scores ever composed: Prokofiev’s Romeo et Juliet. 

Aside from its seven season subscription concerts, the Peoria Symphony Orchestra will also present Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles on Friday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m. at O’Brien Field. Featuring the Peoria Symphony Orchestra and the four musicians/vocalists that made Beatlemania a hit on Broadway, it promises to deliver a Beatles experience like no other. Tickets are $30 and $40, and can be purchased at O’Brien Field or by calling the O’Brien Field box office at 680-4008.

Season tickets for the Symphony’s season are now on sale starting at $149, with school-age children’s season tickets at half price. Five-concert Flex Passes and four-concert packages are also available. For information and to purchase tickets, please call the PSO ticket line at 309-671-1096.