The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra opens its new season – grandly called “Great Expectations” – with its first new music director in 37 years, Christopher Zimmerman, the man who was deemed the best among the six finalists who vied for the position last year. The British-born Zimmerman made his way to Virginia from Connecticut. He’ll conduct Bernstein’s West Side Story Symphonic Dances and Stravinsky’s expansive Rite of Spring, among other pieces. Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. Pre-concert lecture free to ticketed patrons at 7 p.m. George Mason University Center for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. Tickets are $25 to $55. Call 703-563-1990 or visit www.fairfaxsymphony.org.

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