LAKEPORT, Calif. – This year’s 40th anniversary of the Lake County Symphony will take place on Sunday, Nov. 19, and will feature a performance by accomplished North Coast pianist, Elizabeth MacDougall.

The event will open at 2 p.m. rather than 3 p.m.; the time change was requested by many members who have felt uncomfortable driving after dark.

Along with the change in time, the fall concert would seem to also indicate a change in seasons, since John Parkinson, conductor of the 75 piece orchestra, has selected Robert Schumann’s “Spring Symphony, “ as the composer’s “Symphony No. 1” is usually known, as a featured piece in the concert.

This was Schumann’s first effort at writing a full symphony, and when it was performed under the baton of the legendary conductor Felix Mendelssohn it was an instant hit.

The time change does not affect the usual 11 a.m. opening of the full-dress rehearsal, which is free of charge to youths 18 and younger, or to others for just $5.

As is traditional the Lake County Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Sue Condit, will open the program with the first and second movements of the Brandenburg Concerto by J.S. Bach.

This well-known piece was one of six composed by Bach in 1721 and presented to his friend and patron Christian Ludwig Margrave, of the town of Brandenburg. It was written in the style of the concerto grosso, which featured each section of the string orchestra playing on a solo part.

The second classical composer chosen by Parkinson for the Fall Concert is the Russian musical giant Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

His “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor” was composed for the best-known pianist of the time, Nikolai Rubinstein, whose playing of the difficult piece made it a hit with 18th century music lovers.

The Lake County Symphony Orchestra is fortunate in having one of Northern California’s most accomplished pianists, Elizabeth MacDougall, available to pinch-hit for Rubinstein.

MacDougall, who hails from Ukiah, has won enthusiastic support from Lake County concert goers in prior appearances here.

The concert will take place at “The Home of the Symphony,” Lakeport’s Soper Reese Theatre, 275 S. Main St.

General admission is $25 with premium seating $30. Both are discounted $5 for symphony association members.

Tickets can be ordered at www.soperreesetheatre.com or phone 707-263-0577.

Following the concert, LCSA members will meet for a 40th Anniversary Dinner and celebration at a local restaurant.