Wherefore Art Thou, Symphony?
by Savannah Brown
Music Director Alex Prior conducts the Eugene Symphony in October, 2025. Photo by Robert Williams.
Posted on 03/12/2026 by Eugene Weekly
The Eugene Symphony performs a Sunday matinee of Romeo and Juliet March 15.
Experience the most romantic, the most classic and the most messy love story ever told with Eugene Symphony’s performance of Romeo and Juliet. Jen Bell, Eugene Symphony’s marketing director, says the production moves “like a roller coaster.” The symphony will play four pieces. The first one is “Iron Foundry” by Alexander Mosolov, “which is meant to sound like a factory working, and it’s only three minutes long, but it’s powerful,” Bell says. Then, Hanzhi Wang will perform an accordion concerto, which Bell says is unusual for an orchestra, but she describes Wang as “the accordion goddess.” After that, the orchestra will play Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” before Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet.” It is conducted by Alex Prior, Eugene Symphony’s relatively new music director, who had his first performance in the position in October 2025. Prior is a 32-year-old music prodigy and was previously an assistant director for the Seattle Symphony and music director of the Edmonton Symphony. Bell says the shorter length of the symphony and dynamic individual pieces makes this event perfect for families.
Eugene Symphony’s Romeo and Juliet is 2 pm to 4 pm Sunday, March 15, at the Hult Center. Tickets start at $12.50, or a family package at $60 for two adults and two youths, with $10 for each additional youth. Tickets are available at HultCenter.org.
