Berks In Focus: Symphony Of A Thousand Images
October 10, 2026 · 7:30 PM · Santander Performing Arts Center, 136 N 6th Street, Reading
About the event
The Reading Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Andrew Constantine, brings Berks County to the stage in sound and light. The program pairs Gershwin's Cuban Overture and Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story with the first and third movements of Copland's Tender Land Suite and Joseph Curiale's Awakening: Compassion, Forgiveness and Joy.
The centerpiece is a new visual concerto built from images submitted by people across the county, created with the Yocum Institute and Westwater Arts. Those photographs are choreographed onto a 440 square foot screen suspended above the orchestra while the musicians play Awakening live. Nicholas Bardonnay, photographer and creative director of Westwater Arts, cues the projections from memory during the performance, a technique known as symphonic photochoreography. His National Park Suite, set to the Copland movements, draws on photographs made in national parks and monuments including Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
Before the music begins, a reception and gallery showing runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Santander Performing Arts Center, with work from local student artists on view. It makes for a full evening out in downtown Reading and a chance to see familiar places through your neighbors' eyes.
Hosted by Reading Symphony Orchestra on BerksConnect.
