P.D.Q. Bach and Musical Comedy

With its earliest roots planted in 1949, the nonprofit Youth Orchestras of San Antonio (YOSA) has evolved from a district-specific student symphony to a sprawling conglomerate comprising nine distinct orchestras representing 158 schools in Bexar County and environs. Under the direction of Troy Peters since 2009, YOSA has won over fans of all stripes with its Classic Albums Live series, which welcomes local musicians into the fold for start-to-finish interpretations of beloved albums (Radiohead’s OK Computer, The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Prince’s Purple Rain) backed by the YOSA Philharmonic (save the date for Hotel California Live on March 12). Drawing inspiration from composer, author, satirist and musical mixologist Peter Schickele and his comedic alter ego P.D.Q. Bach (an alleged illegitimate offspring of Johann Sebastian Bach who’s been called a “pimple on the face of music”), YOSA’s P.D.Q. Bach and Musical Comedy showcases the talents of pianist Jeffrey Biegel in a program featuring the “last and least” Bach’s Concerto for Simply Grand Piano and Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein’s lighthearted Candide Overture and Zoltán Kodály’s Háry János Suite — a “tuneful collection of tall tales based on the exaggerated stories of an aging Hungarian soldier.”