The Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Nobuyoshi Yasuda. (Submitted photo)

In celebration of his 30th year with the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra, conductor and music director Nobuyoshi Yasuda was encouraged to choose some of his favorite works for the 2023-24 season. At the top of his list came Austrian composer Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, which the symphony orchestra will perform at 7:30pm Saturday, March 9, at the Pablo Center at the Confluence.

“People often ask me who my favorite composer is,” Yasuda said in a media release. “My reply is, ‘Bruckner.’ His symphonies are the pinnacle of symphonic music, standing high and grand like Mount Everest.”

The symphony, which premiered in 1884, is frequently regarded as one of the greatest symphonies ever composed.

“I am excited to perform Bruckner’s 7th Symphony,” Yasuda said. “It expresses Bruckner’s inner journey going through various phases of life: hardship, defeat, despair, longing, hope, and his overcoming obstacles and trying to reach out to paradise.”

Now, the musicians of the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra will take audiences on that sonic journey. “I have enjoyed making music with the inspiring musicians of the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra for 30 years,” Yasuda concluded. “We have performed numerous great symphonic pieces by great composers like Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky” – and now Bruckner.

Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra performers Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 • 7:30pm, Saturday, March 9 • RCU Theatre, Pablo Center at the Confluence, Eau Claire • tickets available at pablocenter.org, (715) 832-2787, or boxoffice@pablocenter.org