Composer

Celebrate the beginning of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2026/2027 Season with an Opening Night unlike anything you’ve experienced before. Featuring not one, but three extraordinary pianists, this concert blends classical masterworks, jazz-inspired brilliance, and theatrical elements into one concert.

The program begins with Stravinsky’s Petrushka, a dazzling ballet score that shocked audiences with its rhythmic energy and vivid orchestral colors. From there, Duke Ellington’s visionary New World A-Comin’ brings the spirit of jazz and hope-filled American artistry to the stage, followed by the elegance and sparkle of Ravel’s Piano Concerto — a work deeply inspired by the sounds of jazz clubs.

Then, experience Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue like never before. This work is one of America’s most beloved musical masterpieces, fusing classical music with the energy of New York City jazz. Enhanced with dancers and dynamic lighting, this performance transforms the concert experience into a vibrant season-opening event.

EPSG:4326

Opening Night: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

From Duke Ellington’s swirling jazz-ballet harmonies to the propulsive tango-noir rhythms of the New York City subway, to George Gershwin’s dizzying Parisian fever dream, you’ll want to look both ways before you cross the street—and hold on tight, because tonight’s program doesn’t stop for red lights. Our very own principal pianist Alexander Sandor joins us in the hot seat for this all-American jazz joyride. 

America in Motion

DECC Symphony Hall

The Monterey Symphony presents Love Letter to New York September 15 and 16 at 6:30 PM at the outdoor Forest Theater in Carmel with Brad Hogarth, Associate Conductor, vocalists Malinda DeRouen and Bernard Holcomb, and pianist Tammy L. Hall. The concerts this year will not disappoint! Featuring music from Bernstein's On the Town, as well as music from popular films such as The Avengers and Spiderman; soaring hits from Duke Ellington and Shirley Horn, AND SO MUCH MORE!

Love Letter to New York

Forest Theater

This Labor Day weekend, your Nashville Symphony transforms Walk of Fame Park into a multimedia celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

Leading the evening alongside Music Director Leonard Slatkin is acclaimed actor, humanitarian, and fellow Lincoln Medal recipient Gary Sinise, who narrates American Mosaic: a bold new composition honoring the people, places, and spirit of the United States. Created by composer Peter Boyer and renowned photographer Joe Sohm, and co-commissioned by the Nashville Symphony, the work weaves sweeping orchestral music, Sinise's live narration, and stunning 4K video from all 50 states into an unforgettable journey through America’s diverse sonic and scenic identity.

Around this centerpiece, the orchestra performs some of our nation’s most beloved pieces, including Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and Charles Ives' Variations on America.

American Mosaic: A Free Community Concert

Walk of Fame Park

Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige weaves the sounds of blues, spirituals and work songs into a suite for jazz orchestra. Ellington, troubled by clichéd representations of Black culture, felt it was ‘time a big piece was written from the inside’. His ambitious suite gives a powerful account of Black life in America, from slavery, through emancipation, segregation and military service, to a new era of prosperity and cultural assertiveness.

JLCO plays Duke Ellington

Usher Hall

Making his Festival debut, Kedrick Armstrong conducts the Grant Park Orchestra in Gershwin’s jaunty An American In Paris. Experience the propulsive energy of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Sinfonietta No. 1 and Duke Ellington’s The Three Black Kings alongside Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s lyrical Violin Concerto with soloist Gabriela Lara, an alumna of the Festival’s String Fellowship program.

Gershwin An American in Paris

Harris Theater for Music and Dance

Gabriela Lara | Grant Park Music Festival

Generations of European classical music composers made their livelihoods at the behest of courtly patrons, developing their craft (and feeding their families) as they turned out countless scores for ballrooms, theaters, and chapels. Patronage played a role in American music, too—but here, the siren song of Hollywood arguably played a bigger role in how music developed in America. Studios offered handsomely paid work, while keeping the sounds of orchestral instruments in the ears of moviegoers who might never visit a concert hall. Composers like Bernard Hermann, Elmer Bernstein, and John Williams became household names, crafting timeless scores that would enter the concert-music canon. And few can match the extraordinary success achieved by the charismatic composer, pianist, and conductor Leonard Bernstein, who fused urban swagger with jazz and Latin dance music to create one of the 20th century’s most beloved works: West Side Story, a perennial hit on stage and screen.

West Side Story Goes Hollywood

Southern Vermont Arts Center

The Los Angeles Philharmonic performs an all-American program depicting scenes from the women’s suffrage movement, gentle lullabies, and vibrant city streets. New York City comes to life in both the dances from Leonard Bernstein’s beloved musical On the Town and Duke Ellington’s orchestral suite Harlem.

Wilkins Conducts Bernstein & Ellington

Hollywood Bowl

Join the National Repertory Orchestra for a star-spangled celebration at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne! This year’s Fourth of July Spectacular commemorates our nation’s 250th and Colorado’s 150th anniversaries with A Star-Spangled 250, led by the one conductor uniquely suited to bring the scale, spirit, and celebration of this moment to life—Carl Topilow.

This free outdoor concert is a family-friendly event filled with music, fun, and patriotic spirit—an NRO tradition that brings the community together for an unforgettable Independence Day experience. Families will enjoy the NRO Instrument Petting Zoo, where kids can explore different instruments and get hands-on musical fun. Wear your red, white, and blue, and soak in the festive atmosphere with friends, neighbors, and music lovers of all ages.

Fourth of July Spectacular (Silverthorne)

Rainbow Park

This year’s Fourth of July Spectacular commemorates our nation’s 250th and Colorado’s 150th anniversaries with A Star-Spangled 250, led by the one conductor uniquely suited to bring the scale, spirit, and celebration of this moment to life—Carl Topilow.

Fourth of July Spectacular

Riverwalk Center

The programme is a love letter to 20th-century song in all its forms. 

From the soaring romanticism of Alma Mahler and Richard Strauss to the bittersweet elegance of Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, this concert brings together worlds that rarely meet. 

You’ll hear music from beloved films and musicals alongside lush orchestral arrangements of song cycles and solo pieces all carefully curated to tell a story that is moving, varied and richly expressive.

Fantasia Orchestra with Niamh O’Sullivan

Smith Square Hall

A summer night at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor with JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrating the spirit of America through music.  From sweeping orchestral favorites to iconic themes, Western New Yorkers can gather together for a powerful celebration of America250, culminating in a glittering fireworks display over Lake Erie.

Sound & Sky on the Waterfront

Terminal B at the Outer Harbor

In recognition of America’s 250th anniversary with a powerful program spanning multiple generations of American composers. Works by Copland and former Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery present soaring reflections on the ideals of freedom and equality, Ives salutes his native New England, and Martinů pays tribute to Plymouth Rock, which symbolized the opportunities that America had given him.

Lincoln Portrait & Ellington Harlem

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Grand Slam Jam

Prairie Home Alliance Theater

This concert is in partnership with the Warren County Commission for the  250th Anniversary of the American Revolution

American Portraits

Glens Falls High School

This concert invites you to listen to the hidden thread: how music evolved from structured dance to soulful improvisation. From the dazzling forms of Bach, through the fiery folk dances of Bartók, into the lush and liberated world of Duke Ellington. This is a story of freedom: not by abandoning the past, but by building upon it.

Structure to Freedom

Jazz, TX

Courtney Lewis leads a program blending timeless classics with bold new sounds. Wagner’s grand Meistersinger Prelude sets the tone, followed by a highly anticipated world premiere from Anna Clyne. Ellington’s Celebration infuses jazz energy, leading to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, one of history’s most iconic and powerful works.

Beethoven’s Fifth

Jacoby Symphony Hall

The WashU Jazz Band will perform a wide variety of tunes written for the large jazz ensemble, featuring tight ensemble work and outstanding student soloists.  Selections include student compositions, modern settings of jazz standards, and original tunes composed specifically for the contemporary big band.

WashU Jazz Series: Jazz Band Concert

560 Music Center

Joshua Weilerstein makes his triumphant return to the Philharmonic in this musical postcard celebrating the 250th anniversary of American Independence. Three joyous works each cast a different light on the sights and sounds of the USA, culminating in a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s love letter to America – his ‘New World’ Symphony. One of the most beloved and enduring works in the orchestral repertoire, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 explores themes of identity, belonging, and the emotional pull of home.

New World Symphony

The Bridgewater Hall

BBC Philharmonic - New World Symphony

In 2006 jazz musician Terence Blanchard saw his native New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina. ‘When you’re hurt beyond anything you can imagine, I mean, it causes you to dig deep and try to find some answers’, he says. His creative response was A Tale of God’s Will – an extraordinary, emotionally charged musical testament in the symphonic jazz tradition of greats like Duke Ellington. As part of our Harmony with Nature season, Blanchard and his quintet join the LPO for a rare UK appearance – paired with Ellington’s own musical tale of man, God and nature, The River Suite.

Terence Blanchard: A Requiem for Katrina

Southbank Centre

Voices Of America: America The Beautiful

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts

No concert season is complete without a performance by the Bundesjugendorchester, the “protégé” of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Germany’s finest young talents between 14 and 24 come together this time with the Bundesjazzorchester to present jazz highlights by Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, and Wynton Marsalis. That classical composers also have a feel for swing is demonstrated by Darius Milhaud’s La Création du monde and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Revuemusik. Jazz flows through the veins of Libor Šíma, whose Sledgehammer reloaded is performed, and the singer Malika Tirolien, who appears as a special guest with her Grow Suite.

Feel the Jazz Bundesjugendorchester and Bundesjazzorchester

Berliner Philharmoniker

Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue features an eclectic selection of Americana music sure to get you in the mood for the upcoming 250th Anniversary celebration! First up is the world premiere of American Patriot Hymn by Composer in Residence Jeff Lippencott, followed by Duke Ellington’s musical depiction of 1950’s Harlem. Grammy Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann is featured on Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue

Cheyenne Civic Center

Driven by a “passion for musical discovery” and an “open-hearted spirit of camaraderie,” The Knights bring fresh excitement and insight to every performance. Tonight, conducted by Eric Jacobsen, they traverse a vast soundscape of American music as part of Carnegie Hall’s United in Sound: America at 250 festival. The program features Copland’s Pulitzer Prize–winning, folk-infused masterpiece: the Appalachian Spring Suite, plus the New York premiere of a concerto written by Gabriel Kahane for clarinetist extraordinaire Anthony McGill, part of the ensemble’s multi-year Rhapsody project.

The Knights at Carnegie Hall with Anthony McGill

Carnegie Hall

Louis Langrée returns to lead Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a concert celebrating the music of iconic American composers. GRAMMY-nominated jazz pianist Gerald Clayton performs Duke Ellington’s works, alongside classic favorites by Charles Ives, Gershwin, and Bernstein.

Louis Langrée Conducts Gershwin, Ellington and Bernstein

Experience the fabric of American culture through music composed by some of our nation’s most notable composers and join in patriotic salutes to those whose sacrifices secured the blessings of liberty so eloquently expressed in our Declaration of Independence 250 years ago.

Pops Concert 2026

Delaware Valley University

Immerse yourself in the heart of America’s musical legacy with a concert that showcases the soul-stirring sounds of Gershwin, Bernstein, Ellington, and more. Soprano Tracy Cantin joins the orchestra for a breathtaking performance of iconic works like “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music and “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story. With the playful rhythms of Joplin’s “The Entertainer” to the powerful tribute in Ellington’s “Three Black Kings,” this evening honors the music that shaped American culture and the figures and stories that have left an indelible mark on America.

The American Songbook

Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center

Fanfare for the New World Symphony Concert

Neumann University

Celebrate America's rich musical melting pot with great works from some of our finest composers. The first half features Duke Ellington's evocative tone poem and Artie Shaw's rarely performed Clarinet Concerto. Then, Gershwin's iconic An American in Paris shows us how American musicians blended jazz and classical elements in ways that make this unique fusion feel both natural and inevitable.

From Brass To The Blues

Visalia Fox Theatre

A tribute to the iconic voices of American legends like Gershwin, Joplin, Marsalis, Florence Price, and Richard Smallwood.  Dedrick Bonner and the Singers of Soul will lift every voice and sing at the California Theatre.

American Voices: Lift Every Voice and Sing!

San Bernardino Symphony

Born in South Korea, Ms. Jung began studying marimba at age three, a rarity among percussionists. Since launching her career as a soloist, she has performed concertos with such leading orchestras and conductors as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, the Sarasota Orchestra with Giancarlo Guerrero, the Houston Symphony with Daniel Hege, the Aspen Festival Orchestra with Michael Stern, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra with Peter Oundjian, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic with JoAnn Falletta, the Grand Rapids Symphony with Marcelo Lehninger, and the Boise Philharmonic with Eric Garcia.

Rhapsody

Ridgefield Playhouse

A celebration of American stories and voices, ROCO In Concert: Do You Hear What I Hear? welcomes conductor Anthony Parnther in his ROCO debut, with guest concertmaster Tereza Stanislav, leading the 40-piece chamber orchestra on Saturday, February 7, 5:00 p.m. at The Church of St. John the Divine. Featured are Duke Ellington’s New World A-Comin’, spotlighting ROCO pianist Audrey Andrist, and the premiere of Patricia Leonard‘s Persistence of the Dream, a ROCO commission commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, along with the ROCO commissioned premieres of Gala Flagello’s Droughts & Downpours for string orchestra, and Jason Stephens’ rescore of Antonin Dvořák’s New World Symphony.

ROCO In Concert: Do You Hear What I Hear?

The Church of St. John the Divine

To play a waltz melody is to speak of love through music. This program of American love songs, duets, and love dances paired with the Austrian versions of operetta arias, love duets, and eternal waltzes is pure enjoyment. You will be in the thrall of the music, in rapture all evening, and may exit the hall with a magical lilt to your gait. Come and be wrapped with unforgettable melodies and heartwarming words of love and delight.

Waltzes of Love

Southern Oregon University

Grants Pass High School

Collier Center for the Performing Arts

Celebrate nearly 250 years of American music with your Greeley Philharmonic. The concert includes the patriotic “Liberty Fanfare” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Also featured is Copland’s ballet, Appalachian Spring, inspired by the American frontier. Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes and “A New World A’Comin” by Duke Ellington fuse jazz and orchestral traditions. The second half opens with a world premiere of a piece by Julie Giroux. Join us on January 31st to hear your American favorites or to discover something new!

Stars & stripes Forever

University of Northern Colorado

The organ matinee concert series, featuring some of Sweden’s finest organists, has grown in popularity in recent years. The organ in Konserthuset Stockholm is one of the most renowned in Europe, with its magnificent façade – and with 6,100 pipes, it is also one of the largest.

Organ Matinee with Sebastian Johansson

Konserthuset Stockholm

Comedian Harmonists: The Voices of Memory

Teatro alla Scala

Edward Elgar scored an instant hit with his 1899 Enigma Variations, and he's been captivating new generations with it ever since. Enigma found its way into the films Dunkirk (2017) and The Matrix (1999), as well as the solemn funerals of Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II.

Ellington + Elgar's Enigma Variations

The Woodruff Arts Center

Step into the exciting world of Duke Ellington’s Harlem, then journey through the deep emotions of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3. The violin takes centre stage as Stravinsky looks back to the 18th century in his Concerto, brought to life by the captivating Alina Ibragimova. This program explores the full spectrum of orchestral colour, blending jazz, energy, and heartfelt expression. A dazzling musical adventure through diverse musical landscapes!

The Orchestra According to Duke Ellington and Rachmaninov

Place des Arts

What do you get when you blend the elegance of Beethoven, the soul of Ellington, and the sparkle of Bernstein? A concert that dances. Beethoven’s Seventh isn’t just “good.”… Wagner called it the “apotheosis of the dance.” It’s yet another joyous display of brilliance out of one of music’s all-time greats. University of Akron professor Chris Coles, our saxophone soloist, brings the cool to the Duke’s Three Black Kings, and Bernstein’s West Side Story  Symphonic Dances round it all off with jazzy brilliance. We open the night with a special debut of UofA student Sarah Hegenderfer’s Clearing of Snow. This one’s for your head, your heart, and your hips.

Beethoven’s Seventh

The University of Akron

Gershwin’s masterpiece as you’ve never heard it before. South Florida legend Marcus Roberts and his jazz trio transform Rhapsody in Blue through skillful improvisation. Ellington’s jazz symphony traces the history of Black Americans.

Rhapsody in Blue

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Invoke was the Young Professional String Quartet in Residence at the University of Texas at Austin from 2016-2018. Since being selected as Interlochen’s Emerging Artists Quartet in 2014, the group has been a featured artist and on faculty at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp. The group also participated in the Emerging String Quartet Program at Stanford, and was an Artist in Residence at Strathmore and the Fellowship String Quartet at Wintergreen Performing Arts. In 2018, Invoke was named a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in New York, NY, received First Prize at the M-Prize International Chamber Arts competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and received First Prize in the Coltman Competition in Austin, Texas.

Invoke

Bethel United Methodist Church

Copenhagen Phil is once again preparing for one of the year's big and atmospheric events, when the symphony orchestra kicks off 2026 with a very special musical fireworks display that celebrates the beauty of life, the seductive rhythms of music and unforgettable melodies - from Vienna to Harlem.

New Year's concert

Fredensborg Hall

Kalundborghallen

Køgehallerne - Spar Nord Arena

The Conservatory Concert Hall

Royal Stage, Hillerød

BORREN - Højby Idræts- og Kulturcenter

Nykøbing F Hallen

A sparkling New Year's celebration with Martyn Brabbins and guests! 

With glitter and champagne we celebrate the new year atMalmö Live Concert Halland hearMalmö Symphony Orchestrashine with sparkling virtuosity.  

New Year's Gala 2025

Malmo Live Concert Hall

Come learn about The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann and its many versions. The Dallas Black Dance Academy will talk about their version which highlights Tchaikovsky's Suite and Duke Ellington's Suite. It will make for a very sweet afternoon.

Dallas Black Dance Academy @ J. Erik Jonsson Central Library

J. Erik Jonsson Central Library

You’ll hear sparkling works by Czech and French female composers, audience favorites like Coleridge-Taylor’s Christmas Overture and Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, plus a few surprises sure to make your spirits bright. And don’t miss the annual audience sing-along, hosted by CEO & President Sidney P. Jackson, complete with glowing luminaria lighting our hall in harmony.

Holidays of Hope

Mandel Hall

North Central College

Los Angeles favorite Thomas Wilkins returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall for a holiday inflected program. In 1960, Duke Ellington merged the Tchaikovsky ballet with his own aesthetic, transforming the Sugar Plum Fairy into Sugar Rum Cherry and “The Dance of the Reed-Pipes” into “Toot Toot Tootsie Toot” creating an instant American classic with his spin on the Russian chestnut. But Tchaikovsky gets his full due with his enchanting First Symphony, which the composer lovingly called “a sin of my sweet youth.” From its chilly opening along a winter journey and through misty landscapes, the composer eventually arrives in a spring filled with the blooms of flowers and young love.

Ellington’s Nutcracker & Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Daydreams”

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Get into the swing of the holiday season as the Interlochen Arts Academy Jazz Orchestra performs Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite. Enjoy an evening of playful takes on your favorite songs from Tchaikovsky’s beloved holiday ballet—as reimagined by The Duke himself!

Jazz Orchestra: Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker"

Interlochen Center for the Arts

The Bay Theatre

The big charity advent concert

The Bell, Bremen

Ring in the holiday season with a two-part holiday extravaganza featuring Berklee's Diamond Cut Big Band performing Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite. Produced and directed by professor Tia Fuller, this concert celebrates the music of Ellington’s 1960s recording of jazz interpretations of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

The second portion of the concert will feature master saxophonist and Berklee alumnus Jaleel Shaw. He will be performing classics from Berklee’s GenNext All-Stars’ new holiday recording, Noel.

Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellington's The Nutcracker Suite and GenNext All-Stars’ Noel Featuring Jaleel Shaw

Berklee College of Music

"Why would you want to be a second-rate Ravel when you could be a first-rate Gershwin?" - Maurice Ravel responding to George Gershwin's request for tutelage.

An American In Paris

Washington Pavilion

A thrilling fusion of symphonic mastery and jazz-infused energy! Grammy Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann takes center stage for both Florence Price’s Piano Concerto, a work of rich lyricism and bold orchestral colors, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, a dazzling blend of elegance and swing.

  Rhythm of the Americas

Hult Center for the Performing Arts

Join the Culver City Symphony Orchestra and the SoCal Chorale in Veterans Auditorium for an uplifting tribute honoring courage and unity.

Summon the Heroes - a Culver City Symphony Orchestra Veterans Day Concert

Veterans Memorial Park Culver City

American pianist Emmet Cohen has been described as a prodigy and is one of today’s leading young jazz artists. DownBeat magazine has praised his “lightning-fast touch and warm harmonic vocabulary.” Others have called him the greatest jazz piano talent to emerge in decades – with a virtuosity that has led some to name him the foremost heir to Oscar Peterson.

Blue House Jazz Emmet Cohen Trio

Composers captivated by rivers transform their works. Moved by tragedy, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 ebbs and flows with the treacherous yet gentle movement of the Rhine; Leonel Morales returns to the YSO as the featured pianist. Duke Ellington follows the transforming flow of water in the theatrical The River. Known as the ‘waltz king,’ Strauss’ composed On the Beautiful Blue Danube to boost wartime spirits with his uplifting work. Folk-inspired The Moldau, Bedrich Smetana’s symphonic poem admires the Vltava River through the magnificent Bohemian landscape.

Brahms & Ellington

Appell Center for the Performing Arts

Experience Disney’s groundbreaking marriage of symphonic music and animation, Fantasia. Beloved repertoire from the original 1940 version and Fantasia 2000, including The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and The Nutcracker Suite, will be performed by the New Jersey Symphony while Disney’s stunning footage is shown on the big screen. Enjoy iconic moments and childhood favorites like never before!

Disney’s Fantasia in Concert

Mayo Performing Arts Center

State Theatre New Jersey

Count Basie Center for the Arts

From the optimistic spirit of Ellington's "New World A-Comin'" to the electrifying dance rhythms from Bernstein's On the Town to the innovative sounds of Karena Ingram's RAINN and the timeless brilliance of Gershwin's An American in Paris, immerse yourself in a musical melting pot of orchestral grandeur, iconic melodies, and cultural charm.

An American in Paris

Orpheum Theater

See their striking pictures projected on the Royal Festival Hall’s huge screen, and get to know them through interview footage filmed at their home in Spitalfields, while the Philharmonia performs symphonic music exploring the themes of Sex, Money, Race, Religion, one of the key works in the exhibition.

Gilbert & George: Sex, Money, Race, Religion

Slip into an intimate soirée of musical storytelling, where countertenor John Holiday’s inimitable voice weaves a tapestry of familiar narratives and timeless elegance. From the cherished Great American Songbook to the reflective melodies of early 20th-century repertoire, this program is a sincere ode to the themes that bind us together: love, loss, hope, and home.

Current: Reflections In Song

The Olive

Listening to live music is a wonderful experience. In the »Klangzeit« (Sound Time) concerts, you can close your eyes and escape everyday life for a moment. In the entertaining, hour-long concerts featuring the string players of Ensemble Resonanz, you can listen in a relaxed atmosphere, express yourself, sing along to well-known songs and move freely. Here, everyone can be themselves. This makes the format particularly suitable for people with dementia and their relatives. All venues are accessible.

Klangzeit

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Immerse yourself in our country’s most distinctive cultural resource: its music. George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Carlos Simon guide you on an exhilarating, globe-trotting tour of Harlem and points beyond, in a program conducted by James Gaffigan. In works like the Piano Concerto in F and American in Paris, Gershwin captured our national sound by blending all the styles he knew—jazz, blues, classical, sacred Hebrew laments, Eastern European hoedowns, and Broadway balladeering. Sophisticated and streetwise, Ellington’s Harlem celebrates the multi-ethnic capital of Black culture via sweet swing rhythms and salty avant-garde harmonies. Simon grew up in Atlanta, but his 2018 orchestral study The Block is pure Harlem, inspired by the work of African American painter and songwriter Romare Bearden.

Gaffigan Conducts Gershwin & Ellington

Davies Symphony Hall

Take a trip back to the Roaring 20s with music inspired by the style of Art Deco at our A Little Afternoon Musik series. Featuring pianist Terrence Wilson with a string quartet led by Principal Cellist Samantha Powell.

The Roaring Twenties

Cincinnati Union Terminal

While on a 25-city tour of the US in 1928, Maurice Ravel took what would become a pivotal trip to Harlem with George Gershwin as his guide. The sounds of the upper Manhattan jazz clubs wove their way into the French composer’s brain and found their ways into his two beloved piano concertos, filled with syncopated rhythms and bluesy riffs. Piano star Seong-Jin Cho does double duty, joining Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil for both of these vibrant works. Each of the concertos is paired with a swinging symphonic work by jazz great Duke Ellington: the sonic neighborhood tour of Harlem and his ambitious telling of the history of Black Americans in Black, Brown and Beige.

Dudamel Conducts Ellington and Ravel

Paris has long been a city that absorbs influences from across the globe, a vibrant hub where cutting-edge musical ideas flourish. Throughout the years, composers and musicians such as Gershwin, Copland, and Joséphine Baker left their mark on the city’s dynamic music scene. This concert celebrates the rich musical exchange between continents, from the rhythms of jazz and ragtime to the unique style and virtuosity of Cuban violinist José White. Jazz musicians adopted French harmonies and the French, in turn, embraced the rhythmic freedom of jazz with open arms. The composers featured in this concert were either Americans beloved in Paris, lived there for a time, or, like Debussy and Ravel, were deeply influenced by the vibrant music of the Americas. Join us for a program that captures the dazzling interplay of these musical worlds.

Americans In Paris

Hanna Center

JoAnn Falletta, the BPO, and the Buffalo United Community Choir (BUCC) present a performance continuing our commitment to share musical experiences that bring together and uplift the Western NY community.

Concert for Unity

Zion Missionary Baptist Church

Enjoy the sounds of your New Jersey Symphony under the stars! This free program features a medley of timeless classics, Broadway themes and patriotic favorites the whole family will love.

Composer

Duke Ellington

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 17, 2026

America@250 Frontier, Freedom, and the Force · Lima Symphony Orchestra

Oct 24, 2026

Red, White, and Shades of Blue · Spartanburg Philharmonic

7 - 8 Nov, 2026

Masterworks II: Cityscapes Home & Abroad · Quad City Symphony Orchestra

Nov 16, 2026

Ensemble of St Luke’s · Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

Dec 3, 2026

Mr Sun Plays Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite · Groton Hill Music Center

Past events

19 - 20 Sep, 2026

Opening Night: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue · Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra

Sep 19, 2026

America in Motion · Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra

About

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