The music festival season has started, and we're covering one of the most interesting programs of the summer - the Aspen Music Festival and School's opening concert. The Aspen Chamber Symphony will perform four pieces by four of classical music's most important composers, and in this episode we'll trace the legacy of their influence. 

PROGRAM

Strauss - from Tanzsuite nach Klavierstücken von François Couperin, TrV 245 (Dance Suite after Couperin)

Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216

Intermission

Stravinsky - Monumentum pro Gesualdo di Venosa (ad CD annum)

Beethoven - Symphony No. 8 in F major, op. 93

Ludovic Morlot and the Aspen Chamber Symphony, joined by Simone Porter as soloist, will perform this program on June 30th at the Benedict Music Tent in Aspen, CO. Learn more at the Aspen Music Festival and School's website.

Gustav Mahler was a man for big ideas, big questions. In his Symphony No. 2, the "Resurrection" symphony, he explores one of the greatest questions of all - what comes after death? Join Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this weekend as they follow Mahler into the mystery of the afterlife. 

PROGRAM

MacMillan - Miserere

Mahler - Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection"

Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform this program on June 2, 3, and 4 at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA. Buy tickets here.

This week, we interview composer Dominick DiOrio. Dominick is one of the youngest-ever tenured conducting faculty members at Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music, and his work with the school's vocal ensemble NOTUS has earned him acknowledgment as one of today's most important young composers. Join us as we follow Dominick through some of the most profound themes of his music - identity, love, and death. 

Dominick DiOrio’s music will be performed in several cities before the end of April including:

April 21 - Macalester College Premiere. Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN - 7:30 pm

April 23 - Ithaca College Lincoln Center Preview Concert. Ford Hall, Ithaca College - 4:00 pm

April 26 - NIU Chamber Choir & All-University Chorus. Boutell Memorial Concert Hall, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL - 8:00 pm

April 27 - Hendrix College Premiere. Hendrix College, Conway, AR - 7:30 pm

April 28 - Hofstra University Chamber Choir Spring Tour. Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City, NY - 7:30 pm

April 29 - Ithaca College @ Lincoln Center. Alice Tully Hall / Lincoln Center, New York, NY - 8:00 pm

Texas State University Premiere. Texas State University, San Marcos, TX - 7:30 pm

For centuries, immigrants have streamed into America - many with few possessions and little money. But they brought their music. If Lady Liberty wrote down every note and rhythm that landed in New York Harbor, she might have been of the greatest composers in history! In this episode for the Philadelphia Orchestra, we take a look at just a few of her musical children. 

Program

Bernstein - Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs for Solo Clarinet and Jazz Ensemble

Metheny - Duo Concerto for Vibraphone and Marimba

INTERMISSION 

Dvorák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 ("From the New World")

Performances are Thursday 3/30 at 8PM, Friday 3/31 at 2PM and Saturday 4/1 at 8PM at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, PA. 

If music is indeed the most evocative symbol of a nation, then Sibelius and Prokofiev were virtuosic masters of national pride. But pride is always relative - and on this program, Russia plays both the hero and the villain.