Our season concludes with three iconic compositions and two orchestral world premieres. The program opens with Bernstein’s toe-tapping Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, a comedic Broadway hit filled with dance, sentimentality, and lightheartedness. The musical spirit of America continues with Copland’s emblematic and patriotic Appalachian Spring: Suite, which blooms with optimism and brims with the tender promise of new life. Starting with its idiosyncratic clarinet glissando, Gershwin’s jazz-infused Rhapsody in Blue swings and sweeps listeners into a different American soundscape where an improvisational-sounding piano line takes the center of this Jazz-age stage. These quintessential American pieces are paired with two works rooted in our own Western New York. Michael Daugherty’s Niagara Falls is a musical journey through one of the world’s great scenic wonders, while Buffalo-born Paul Moravec’s Serenade—inspired by the Great Western Staircase at the New York State Capitol, a marvel of intricate sculpture and history—offers a stirring narrative of ascent and aspiration. This closing concert provides a rich musical portrait of America—both past and present—bound to inspire listeners to appreciate the musical and natural beauty surrounding them.

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Jon Kimura Parker, piano

BERNSTEIN  Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
MICHAEL DAUGHERTY  Niagara Falls (Orchestral World Premiere)
COPLAND  Appalachian Spring: Suite
PAUL MORAVEC  Serenade (Orchestral World Premiere)
GERSHWIN  Rhapsody in Blue