BACK AND IN PERSON: The Princeton Symphony Orchestra returns to Richardson Auditorium with an ambitious spring season of works by contemporary and classic composers. Among them are cellist Pablo Ferrández, familiar to PSO audiences for his recent performances with the orchestra.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has announced its 2022 spring subscription series of live, in-person performances at the orchestra’s home venue of Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University. The season includes works by contemporary composers James Lee III and Gabriela Lena Frank, plus symphonic works by Dvorák, Stravinsky, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. Concertos by Jean Sibelius, Antonín Dvorák, Alexander Scriabin, and Erich Korngold, with guest soloists, are also planned.

Guest artists Diana Adamyan, violin; Mackenzie Melemed, piano; and Stefan Jackiw, violin are appearing for the first time with the PSO, with Adamyan making her U.S. debut. Jackiw was originally scheduled to perform with the PSO in 2020, but the concert was canceled due to the pandemic. Cellist and fan favorite Pablo Ferrández returns to Princeton, having performed live with PSO in 2019 and again on the orchestra’s digital series in 2020.

Concerts take place on select Saturdays and Sundays, February through May. Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov conducts all but one concert. “Richardson is a very special, intimate concert hall with beautiful architectural details and a sense of history,” he said of returning to Richardson Auditorium. “There is no denying that our musicians produce an exceptional sound in this hall. It’s really quite exciting to be going back ‘home.’”

Kenneth Bean, recently appointed as the PSO’s new Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor, conducts the opening concert the weekend of February 5-6. The orchestra accompanies Armenian violinist Adamyan performing Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. Also on the program are Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade, Op. 33 and Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, From the New World.

On March 5-6, the PSO welcomes Spanish cellist Ferrández back to Princeton for a performance of Antonín Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor. Rossen Milanov conducts the program which includes contemporary composer James Lee III’s Amer’ican, offering an alternative perspective on Dvorák’s New World symphony, and Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919).

The PSO gives Alexander Scriabin and Johannes Brahms double billing March 26-27. Pianist Melemed marks his PSO debut with a performance of Scriabin’s Piano Concerto, while the orchestra is showcased in Brahms’s pastoral Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73. Rossen Milanov conducts.

The season concludes May 7-8 with a concert conducted by Milanov and featuring violinist Jackiw as he performs Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto. Completing the program are Gabriela Lena Frank’s Elegia Andina, a musical exploration of multiculturalism, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish.

The PSO is closely monitoring and adhering to the New Jersey Department of Health’s COVID-19 Requirements. Concert attendees will receive information regarding safety procedures, entry, seating directions, etc. in advance of their selected live performance(s).

Initially, these concerts are available only by subscription, with single tickets going on sale in late November. Concerts take place on Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Subscriptions start at $120. Youths 12-17 receive a 50 percent discount with an adult purchase. To subscribe, visit princetonsymphony.org or call (609) 497-0020.