The Colorado Springs Philharmonic is kicking off its Masterworks season, bringing in guest conductors and musicians to join the orchestra in tackling works from the greats.

The series will open this weekend with “Beethoven 7,” as conductor Taichi Fukumura and violin soloist Randall Goosby perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7.”

“We all have different artistic personalities, and that’s going to draw out different sound and different sides of the orchestra. So it’s an exciting season for people to join us,” Fukumura said about the upcoming season.

The first half of the concert will feature 20th-century American works from Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber. The next half will dive into Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7” — often regarded as one of his best.

“To contrast with Beethoven, which is sort of the late classical bridging almost into romantic from a couple centuries ago, we wanted to make sure that we are also diving into more recent repertoire,” Fukumura said.

The program starts with Bernstein’s “Three Dance Episodes,” which has more of a Broadway sound, Fukumura said.

“Again — to expand the repertoire, the style of music, to perform together and really get to know each other — this was selected,” he said. “It’s a great fun piece, but it also gives us a different side of what the Colorado Springs Philharmonic can sound like.”

Then the orchestra will transition into Barber’s “Violin Concerto” with soloist Goosby.

“The Barber ‘Violin Concerto’ is a beautiful, beautiful piece that was quick to enter the violin concerto repertoire once it was premiered,” Fukumura said. “People can connect to it right away. The third movement is quite virtuosic, both for the soloist and actually also for the orchestra.”

The last portion of the concert will take on “Symphony No. 7,” composed by Beethoven in 1812. Fukumura described the symphony as “one of the most exciting and vibrant, optimistic symphonies from Beethoven.”

“Beethoven is really at the heart of our literature, and it’s ingrained in all of us,” he said. “But of course, there are many different ways to interpret Beethoven, so it’s a really great way for us to dive in deep and get to know each other artistically right away. And of course, it’s just one of the all-time favorites.”

So if you’re able, Fukumura encourages residents to come hear the orchestra in person, whether it be this performance or an upcoming show.

“For every concert, we try to make it an experience that we share together,” he said. “Hearing the orchestra live is something really special, and seeing the musicians on stage working especially hard on a program like this, because it is pretty demanding.”