From Reading Symphony Orchestra
What does Berks County sound like? On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Reading Symphony Orchestra (RSO) will answer that question in a spectacular new way with “Berks in Focus: Symphony of a Thousand Images,” an immersive concert experience that brings together orchestral music, local photography, student creativity, and multimedia artistry to create a portrait of the community onstage.
Presented at 7:30 p.m. at the Santander Performing Arts Center, the performance will feature the Reading Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Music Director Andrew Constantine, in collaboration with Westwater Arts and the Yocum Institute for Arts Education.
This is not simply a concert about Berks County. It is Berks County onstage.
More than 1,000 images submitted by Berks County students and community members will become part of an original visual concerto, with photographs choreographed to the music and projected across a massive 440-square-foot screen above the orchestra. The result is a symphonic portrait of the people, places, traditions, landscapes, and experiences that make Berks County home.
“Berks County, seen and heard like never before.”
At the heart of the experience is composer Joseph Curiale’s Awakening: Compassion, Forgiveness and Joy, paired with the photography and visual artistry of Westwater Arts Creative Director Nicholas Bardonnay. Bardonnay will transform the community’s images into a live multimedia experience, creating a visual narrative that unfolds alongside the orchestra.
“Berks in Focus” is part concert, part community portrait and part artistic collaboration — an invitation for audiences to recognize their own stories, memories and sense of place in the music and images surrounding them.
The soundtrack of a community
The evening’s program moves across American musical landscapes, from the unmistakable rhythms of George Gershwin to the cinematic energy of Leonard Bernstein:
- George Gershwin — Cuban Overture
- Aaron Copland — The Tender Land Suite, Movements I & III
- Joseph Curiale — Awakening: Compassion, Forgiveness and Joy
- Leonard Bernstein — Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Together, the works create a musical journey that celebrates American identity, place, movement and community while providing the canvas for Berks County’s own visual story.
The concert also represents a significant collaboration between the RSO, Yocum Institute and Westwater Arts, connecting professional orchestral performance with the creative vision of local students and residents.
A thousand stories. One community.
The RSO has served Berks County and the surrounding region for more than a century, and “Berks in Focus” reflects its continuing commitment to making orchestral music a vital part of community life.
For first-time concertgoers, families and students, the evening offers a new way into the symphony — one that begins not only with great music, but with images and stories that feel close to home.
For longtime RSO audiences, donors and civic leaders, it is an opportunity to see the region represented on a scale unlike anything before it.
One night. One orchestra. A thousand stories.
And together, they become our soundtrack.
Ticket information
Tickets start at $25.00. Student ticket opportunities are also available through the Reading Symphony Orchestra.
A pre-concert reception and gallery showing open to the public will take place from 5-7 p.m. at the Santander Performing Arts Center on Oct. 10.
For tickets and additional information, visit readingsymphony.org or call 610-373-7557.
About the Reading Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1913, the Reading Symphony Orchestra is one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating symphony orchestras. For more than a century, the RSO has brought exceptional orchestral music to audiences throughout Berks County and beyond while supporting music education, youth programs, and meaningful community partnerships.
“Berks in Focus: Symphony of a Thousand Images” is part of the RSO’s 2026-27 season, Music That Tells Our Story, a season centered on community, collaboration, and the many ways music reflects who we are.
Full season details are available at readingsymphony.org/upcoming-events.
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