National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America
Part of: National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America
Performers
Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano
Program
TED HEARNE New Work (World Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
GERSHWIN Piano Concerto in F Major
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2
Encores:
COPLAND "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo
MEREDITH MONK "Panda Chant II" from The Games: a science fiction opera
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.Founder Patrons: Blavatnik Family Foundation; Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari; The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; Marina Kellen French and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation; The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation; Ronald O. Perelman; Robertson Foundation; Beatrice Santo Domingo; Hope and Robert F. Smith; Sarah Billinghurst Solomon and Howard Solomon; and Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation.
At a Glance
This evening’s program opens with Brass Tacks, a new Carnegie Hall–commissioned work by American composer Ted Hearne, followed by two beloved 20th-century works that represent advances in symphonic form and in the careers of their respective composers. Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F Major was composed in three traditional movements, unlike the more improvisatory Rhapsody in Blue. Though much like the Rhapsody, the Piano Concerto integrates American jazz, ragtime, and Tin Pan Alley motifs into classical forms. Sometimes brassy and exuberant, sometimes bluesy and sentimental, the concerto provides a virtuoso showpiece for the pianist while exploring the full range of Gershwin’s sensibility. Sibelius’s Second Symphony advanced far beyond the 19th-century rhetoric of his First Symphony while retaining the hymn-like grandeur of popular nationalistic works like Finlandia. The first three movements are full of mysterious, elusive fragments that build organically toward the noble, simple lines of the finale.