Symphony adds casual concerts

The Richmond Symphony has added two casual concerts at Richmond CenterStage’s Gottwald Playhouse to its 2012-13 schedule.

The new “rush-hour” concerts, led and hosted by Steven Smith, the orchestra’s music director, will be one-hour Thursday evening previews of Metro Collection programs in October and February. The full programs are staged on Sunday afternoons at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.

The first rush-hour concert, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4, will feature music by Kodály, Britten and Haydn, to be performed in full at 3 p.m. Oct. 7 at Randolph-Macon. The second, focusing on Bach’s “Brandenburg” concertos and modern echoes of those works, will be at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21; the full program will be at 3 p.m. Feb. 24 in Ashland.

Tickets for the rush-hour concerts are $20 for adults, $10 for children.

For more information, visit the Richmond Symphony’s website, www.richmondsymphony.com