One of Tacoma's most respected arts organizations will hold a masquerade gala to celebrate the opening of its 70th season, Friday.

"We're keeping musical performances alive in the heart of our region," said Andy Buelow, executive director for the group. We aren't trying to be coy about the name of this 80-member outfit. It's just that its official title is about to change - and Buelow gave the scoop to the Weekly Volcano.

It's "Symphony Tacoma," said Buelow. "This'll actually be, I think, the fourth official name of the organization. We've come to be known, inevitably I suppose, as ‘the TSO' for years, because Tacoma Symphony Orchestra is kind of a mouthful ... We wanted to come up with a new name that would be shorter and kind of roll off the tongue a little more. That'll be official as of the 22nd. The logo and everything else will change, and we'll roll that out at our season opening."

That event arrives Saturday, one night after the masquerade gala. Its musical program was curated by symphony conductor Sarah Ioannides. First out of the gate is Alexander Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances," from his unfinished opera Prince Igor. That selection costars the Tacoma Symphony Chorus. Then comes Estonian maestro Arvo Pärt's 1977 composition, "Fratres" (Latin for "Brothers"). A violin concerto by Alexander Glazunov features world-renowned violinist Vadim Gluzman playing the exact 1690 Auer Stradivarius instrument on which that piece was first performed for an audience 111 years ago.

Once Ioannides recruits a guest artist, explained Buelow, "she'll speak to the artist, in this case Vadim Gluzman, and she'll ask him what he would like to play. There might be a little bit of back and forth around that, but then she'll build the program around that (piece)." Thus was selected the grand finale for this opening program. "(Antonín) Dvo?ák's New World Symphony is one of the most popular symphonies in the repertoire. It's a blockbuster. We haven't done it in about ten years, and we haven't done it since Sarah became our new conductor. It seemed like it paired well." Audiences may well recognize the second movement ("Largo") of this sweeping classic, aka Symphony No. 9 in E minor.

"Over the course of the summer," Buelow added, "they gave the front of the theater a thorough cleaning and facelift, and it just looks absolutely beautiful. So we're looking forward to showing it off to people." It's a new world indeed for the organization. Attendance at symphony performances has gone up by 50 percent over the last three seasons, bolstered in large part by Ioannides' arrival. Thanks to the group's first-rate reputation, it can also boast the debut of a new trumpeter, bass trombonist and principal and assistant principal cellists. So happy 70th birthday, Symphony Tacoma, and here's to another 70 seasons of exceptional live entertainment.

"NEW WORLD SEASON OPENING", 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, $19-$80, 253.272.7264