Music adds vibrancy to our communities. It helps bring people together, helping them feel connected, supported, and a part of something greater.
PSO Musicians perform in the community year-round, from school visits to community events such as Christmas in July at Nubble Light.
2024-2025 Appearances
Thursday, December 12, 2024 7:30 pm
South Church
292 State St, Portsmouth, NH 03801
With trumpets, horns and trombones, PBQ will herald all that’s glorious about the season of Advent, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Come one, come all, to celebrate and be filled with a joyful mix of traditional music, seasonal favorites and music from the Renaissance to pop. The Concert is the Athenaeum’s gift to its membership and to the community at large, although contributions will be gratefully accepted at the door.
Saturday, January 11, 2025 2:00 pm
Childrens Museum of NH, Dover, NH
6 Washington St, Dover, NH
Ocean Adventures will take you on a journey across the sea with classic repertoire such as Malcom Arnold’s Sea Shanties and Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Sea Songs, as well as pop culture favorites from The Little Mermaid and Pirates of the Caribbean.
On January 13, 2025 the PSO String Quartet will visit the Portsmouth Public Schools.
Engaging and educational, the PSO offers a variety of school programs geared towards students of all ages, from pre-K to college.
School day visits provide students with an opportunity to get up close and personal with PSO musicians. Students learn about orchestral instruments and how sound is produced among many other topics. These workshops are the first step to a lifelong relationship with music.
To learn more about this program, please visit our School Programs page.
Saturday, March 22, 2025, 2:00 pm
Portsmouth Music and Arts Center
973 Islington St, Portsmouth, NH 03801
As part of the PSO’s mission to educate the audiences of today and tomorrow, cellist Roric Cunningham will be providing a masterclass to string students in Portsmouth and the surrounding towns. To RSVP, please email aubrie.dionne@portsmouthsymphony.org
ABOUT RORIC CUNNINGHAM
A native of Manchester, N.H., Roric Cunningham joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra cello section in August 2023 at Tanglewood. He began cello studies at age 12 and two years later started taking lessons at the Manchester Community Music with Harel Gietheim. In 2017, he won the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra and Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra competitions and subsequently performed with those orchestras. He has also appeared as soloist with the New Hampshire Philharmonic. Cunningham attended the National Youth Orchestra in 2018 and 2019, touring with the ensemble to London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, and other cities around the world, playing at such venues as London’s Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, LOTTE Concert Hall in Seoul, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. In 2020 and 2021, Roric attended the Heifetz Institute and in 2022 was a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, playing under the batons of Gianandrea Noseda, Klaus Mäkelä, and Charles Dutoit. Cunningham received his bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Natasha Brofsky and Clara Kim. He plays a 1930 Gaetano Sgarabotto cello on loan from Josh and Amelia Katzen made possible through a referral from Carriage House Violins.
