Experience the bold energy and lyrical beauty of Julia Perry’s A Short Piece for Orchestra, followed by the emotional depth and virtuosity of Barber’s Cello Concerto. Concluding with Copland’s Symphony No. 3, patrons will be swept away by its grand, uplifting finale that embodies the spirit of American optimism.

EPSG:4326

Celebrating America: From Cello to Copland

DeVos Performance Hall

The opening piece is Study for Orchestra by Julia Perry, a 20th - century African-American composer . This energetic and rhythmically inventive work reveals the full vitality of American music, bridging the gap between classical tradition and modern language. Next comes the poetry of Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto , brilliantly performed by our principal clarinet, Andrea Fallico. Alternating between jazzy tenderness and virtuoso flights of fancy, this iconic score lets the clarinet sing over intimate, sparkling orchestral colors. Finally, Bruckner's monumental Symphony No. 4 "Romantic" unfolds its mystical forest world, with horns calling out in the mist and majestic orchestral developments. A masterful work that transports us to the heart of nature sublimated by symphonic genius. Under the dynamic direction of Roderick Cox, this contrasting program celebrates the enduring Romantic spirit across centuries and continents.

Échos romantiques

Opéra Berlioz

*World premiere of New York Times bestselling author Amanda Gorman’s poetry set to symphonic music, creating a powerful fusion of words and orchestral expression.

Reflections and Hope

Shermerhorn Symphony Center

Copland & Bizet

University of Nevada

Filled with hummable themes and sultry jazz tones, Gershwin’s crowd-pleasing Concerto in F will glisten and glow in the hands of Hélène Grimaud. Like Gershwin, Kurt Weill’s talents ranged from symphonies to Broadway and popular music (most notably, the jazz standard “Mack the Knife”), and his irresistible Symphony No. 2 showcases his effortless gift for songwriting. The concert opens with Julia Perry’s action-packed A Short Piece for Orchestra.

Gershwin & Grimaud: Jazz Meets Symphony

Jones Hall

Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and piano is a monumental work characterized by rich orchestral textures and the masterful artistry of its soloists. It features Musical America’s Musicians of the Year cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han alongside violinist Julian Rhee.

Beethoven & Bernstein

Green Music Center

TMC Chamber Music

Tanglewood Music Center

Conquer fate with the ISO as we welcome back conductor David Danzmayr for a program that features ISO Principal Bass Ju-Fang Liu. Julia Perry’s A Short Piece for Orchestra opens the program with vibrant textures and contrasts, followed by a newly commissioned bass concerto by former ISO Principal Trombonist James Beckel. The program concludes with Tchaikovsky’s triumphant and ever-popular 5th Symphony.

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5

Hilbert Circle Theatre

When Stravinsky met Dushkin, the first soloist of his Violin Concerto, he showed him a chord written on a napkin. This chord became what Stravinsky called the ‘passport’ for the work. It opens each movement, but the music that follows is different each time, from the lively opening and the melancholy Arias to the delicate finale.

London Symphony Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki

Barbican Centre

Join us for an unforgettable evening of music with the London Symphony Orchestra, featuring the works of Perry, Stravinsky, and Bartók. Under the baton of conductor Susanna Mälkki and with the virtuosic Leila Josefowicz on violin, this concert promises to be a radiant showcase of orchestral brilliance.

**Event Details:**
- **Date:** Sunday, 18 May 2025
- **Time:** 7:00 PM (The concert will conclude at approximately 8:40 PM, including a 20-minute interval. Timings are subject to change.)
- **Venue:** Barbican, London

**Programme:**
- Julia Perry: A Short Piece for Large Orchestra (8 mins)
- Igor Stravinsky: Violin Concerto (22 mins)
- **Interval**
- Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra (40 mins)

**Performers:**
- **Conductor:** Susanna Mälkki
- **Violin:** Leila Josefowicz
- **Orchestra:** London Symphony Orchestra

**Ticket Prices:** £70, £55, £39, £26, £18 (plus a £4 booking fee per online/phone transaction)

**Special Offers:**
- **Wildcards:** £12/£16 (booking fee as above). Guaranteed entry with seat allocation on the day. Limited releases throughout the season.
- **Multibuy Discounts:** Save up to 40%
- **Other Discounts:** Available for 18s-and-under, 14-25s, full-time students, and groups of 10 or more. Free companion tickets for Barbican Access Members.

**About the Music:**
The evening's repertoire spans the emotional and stylistic spectrum of the 20th century. Stravinsky's Violin Concerto, with its iconic opening chord, promises a journey through lively, melancholic, and delicate melodies. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, one of his final works, is a celebration of the orchestra, showcasing each instrument in a journey from solemnity to joy.

**Booking Information:**
- **Online:** lso.co.uk or barbican.org.uk
- **Phone:** +44 20 7870 2500 (Monday to Friday, 12:00-5:30 PM)
- **In Person:** At the Barbican Centre (no booking fee)

For any inquiries regarding your booking, including refunds and exchanges, please contact the Barbican Box Office at tickets@barbican.org.uk.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the London Symphony Orchestra's mastery over the works of Perry, Stravinsky, and Bartók, led by the dynamic Susanna Mälkki and featuring the exceptional Leila Josefowicz. Book your tickets now for an evening of radiant, immense, and life-enhancing music.

Perry, Stravinsky and Bartók

Showpieces for the orchestra meet a dazzling concerto, brimming with characteristic Stravinsky flair and melody, on tour at the Brighton Festival.

On Tour in Brighton

Brighton Dome

Experience the evocative power of music with "Echoes of Time," a captivating performance by the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus. Under the masterful direction of conductor Sameer Patel, this concert promises to be a profound auditory journey, exploring the intricate interplay between past and present through a carefully curated selection of compositions. The La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, renowned for their artistic excellence and innovative programming, will bring to life a repertoire that resonates with timeless themes and contemporary relevance. Set in the acoustically rich Mandeville Auditorium, the performance will envelop the audience in a sonic tapestry that highlights the ensemble's dynamic range and expressive depth. "Echoes of Time" is an opportunity to witness the convergence of tradition and modernity, as the musicians interpret works that reflect the enduring human spirit and its myriad expressions through time.

Echoes of Time

University of California San Diego

Two beloved Romantic works grace this concert program. Acclaimed French pianist Hélène Grimaud solos in Robert Schumann’s masterpiece — a sublime amalgam of rapture and fire, premiered by the composer’s wife Clara who championed it throughout her career. Brahms’s impassioned Fourth is the pinnacle of his symphonic output. The intensity of this autumnal work is illuminated by an inner radiance that will touch your heart with its deep emotions. Siphokazi Molteno “a mezzo with a knockout coloratura” (The Guardian) lends her stunning voice to African-American composer Julia Perry’s Stabat mater, the haunting lament of Jesus’s mother at the cross.

Brahms and Schumann

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

Dwell Together takes its name from Psalm 133: "How pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." It’s the final line from Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, which will be presented in conversation with the Pittsburgh premiere of Joel Thompson’s powerful The Seven Last Words of The Unarmed, Julia Perry’s heart wrenching Stabat Mater, and other choral works.

Dwell Together

First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh

Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church

Violinist David Southorn is the NHSO’s “concertmaster” (principal violinist) and for this program he also serves as artistic director. He will play the solo violin lines and conduct the ensemble from his position in the violin section.

David’s recent solo highlights include performances of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Fremont Symphony, Aaron Jay Kernis’ AIR with the New Haven Symphony and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Delaware Symphony where he was lauded by Delaware Arts Info as “nothing less than brilliant … powerful sound; immaculate precision and compelling agility… impeccable phrasing and polished lyricism…a zestful performance.” As a chamber musician he has performed with his award-winning Amphion String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall as members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS II. The 21-22 season is his 4th year as the Concertmaster of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. This season marks his 10th year as Concertmaster of the Delaware Symphony and he continues his tenure as Assistant Concertmaster of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. This Fall he joins Mannes College The New School for Music as part-time Faculty.

Candlelight Concert

St. Mary's Church

Experience a candlelit performance led by concertmaster David Southorn and featuring NHSO strings while immersed in the beautiful surroundings of New Haven’s historic St. Mary’s Church. This soaring program will take you on flight of imagination with music inspired by bird song including The Lark Ascending and The Goldfinch Concerto featuring the NHSO’s principal flutist, Mira Magrill.

New World Symphony subscribers play a vital role in launching the careers of the world’s best young musicians.

I Dream a World: Transitions and Trailblazers

New World Center

Watch the performance on this page at the scheduled date and time. This performance won’t be available to stream afterward on demand. Should you have trouble accessing the stream via this page, please visit juilliard.live to stream this program.

Juilliard Orchestra Conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky 2025

Lincoln Center

We can only imagine how much courage, self-confidence and steadfastness the African-American Julia Perry had to muster on her way to becoming a composer, at a time when the doors of classical music were not open to women or people of color. And yet she pursued her goal unswervingly, studying first with Luigi Dallapiccola and later with the legendary Nadia Boulanger. Her career began in 1951 with the "Stabat Mater", but it was never given the attention it deserved. A fate that Florence Price had already suffered at the end of the 19th century. She was also a woman and an African-American - and, against all odds, managed to compose an impressive number of around 300 compositions. And a century earlier, Joseph Bologne also had to struggle with racism and discrimination, for he was born in Guadeloupe to a slave and a French nobleman and was later admired at the court of Paris as the "black Mozart". With Brandon Keith Brown, the conductor is vehemently committed to ensuring that people of color, both past and present, are finally given the attention they deserve. As part of the "New Ways" project "Music-Axis-Times", the concert aims to help finally establish this repertoire that has been suppressed for too long and to give people of color a visible place on the stage.

Silenced Black Voices

Philharmonie Mercatorhalle

From the birdsong of spring to the frosts of winter: the London Philharmonic Orchestra leads us through the landscape of Vivaldi’s four beloved violin concertos.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Southbank Centre

### Event Description: Vivaldi's Four Seasons - LPO

**Event Title:** Vivaldi's Four Seasons - LPO

**Date and Time:** Wednesday, 22 January 2025, 7:30 PM

**Venue:** Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

**Ticket Prices:** £10.50 - £45

**Event Overview:**
Experience the timeless beauty of Vivaldi's Four Seasons performed live by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This evening promises to be a captivating journey through the evocative sounds of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, brought to life by the Baroque specialist Richard Egarr and the LPO’s own Alice Ivy-Pemberton on violin.

**Program:**
- **Perry:** Requiem for Orchestra (7 minutes)
- **Evan Williams:** Dead White Man Music Concerto for Harpsichord and Chamber Ensemble (31 minutes)
- **Vivaldi:** The Four Seasons (45 minutes)

**Performers:**
- **Richard Egarr:** Conductor/Harpsichord
- **Alice Ivy-Pemberton:** Violin

**Special Notes:**
As part of the "Moments Remembered" season, the concert will also feature a Vivaldi-inspired Requiem by African-American composer Julia Perry and a provocative piece by Evan Williams that explores his place in classical music as a young African-American composer.

**Offers & Discounts:**
- **Multi-Buy Series Discounts:** Save up to 30% on full-price tickets at the Southbank Centre, London.
- **Group Bookings:** Book 10 or more seats to access discounted tickets for Southbank Centre concerts.

**Booking Information:**
Secure your tickets now to ensure you don't miss this exquisite performance. [Book Now]

**Critical Acclaim:**
"The most sheerly exquisite playing came in the second movement. The tenderly beautiful solos by the LPO’s recently appointed co-leader Alice Ivy-Pemberton were the icing on the deliciously swaying slow-waltz cake." - The Guardian

Join us for an unforgettable evening of classical music that continues to inspire and enchant audiences worldwide.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons

Watch the performance on this page at the scheduled date and time. This performance won’t be available to stream afterward on demand.

AXIOM

Kedrick Armstrong Inaugural

Paramount Theatre

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason has established himself as "nothing less than the future of classical music" (NPR). We celebrate the centennial of Julia Perry’s birth with a brilliant piece by the prolific Kentucky-born composer, and we end the 2023–2024 season with the fateful theme and inevitable glories of Beethoven's timeless Fifth Symphony.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

Orchestra Hall

Artist-in-Residence Simone Lamsma brings her “brightly radiant sound” (New York Times) to Bruch’s poetic Violin Concerto, one of the most cherished works written for the instrument. And Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra transforms each section of the orchestra into spotlit soloists in an emotional odyssey from sorrow to an affirmation of life.

Violinist Simone Lamsma Plays Bruch with the Oregon Symphony

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Willamette University

The University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

FREE and open to the general public

Pitt Symphony Orchestra

University of Pittsburgh

With its rich, sweeping melodies and powerful brass chorales, the Second Symphony has become one of Sibelius’s most famous works — vividly evoking the beauty of his native Finland. 

Sibelius's Second Symphony

Severance Music Center

Abel Selaocoe’s expansive imagination knows no barriers — our newest Artistic Partner embraces singing, dancing, composition and improvisation equally in joyful and powerful music-making. His recent cello concerto, Four Spirits, is drawn from his South African roots and seeks to create a communal experience with the audience. Selaocoe weaves together many traditions on a program that also features music by composers Julia Perry and Jessie Montgomery.

Abel Selaocoe’s Cello Concerto

Shepherd of The Valley Lutheran Church

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Controversy or conundrum? Or both? The centrepiece of this concert is Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. This music walks a tightrope between artistic integrity and political acceptance from Stalin. The piece wavers between despair and parody – heart-rending strings, bleak emotional landscapes, triumphant brass. Compliance or defiance? It’s up to you to decide. National pride bursts out of Smetana’s tone poem, Vltava. Bohemia’s great river gets a cinematic makeover as we travel from its source to the city of Prague, by way of his beloved Czech countryside (passing mermaids bathed in moonlight, a wedding party, and the St John Rapids on the way). Later, we visit the sound of pastoral America with the distinctive voice of Julia Perry, a cosmopolitan composer who fuses the classical style with the sounds of her African American heritage. Contralto Jess Dandy returns to perform one of Perry’s most cherished scores, her Stabat Mater.

A Response to Criticism?

The Bridgewater Hall

It is among the most popular works in the concert hall. Rachmaninov’s Romantic Piano Concerto No. 2 blends soulful lyricism with show-stopping thunder to produce a perennial winner in the hearts of music lovers everywhere. This week, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra welcomes the return of the wonderfully expressive virtuoso Michelle Cann to play the luscious concerto. Also, guest conductor David Danzmayr leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the vivacious Symphony No. 7 by another Russian Romantic, Sergei Prokofiev. The concert opens with Short Piece for Orchestra, a lively and somewhat raucous piece written by composer Julia Perry.

Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2

Atlanta Symphony Hall

We continue the American celebration with a celebration of our very own – cellist Hannah Holman joins us to perform Korngold’s Cello Concerto to celebrate the retirement of her father Tom Holman, longtime JSO cellist. We will also hear works by Samuel Barber, Paul Hindemith, and Julia Perry. The program will conclude with Copland’s image-evoking masterpiece Appalachian Spring.

Greetings from New York

Jackson College

Our season opens with works that stretched boundaries and show the orchestra’s extraordinary range. Giancarlo Guerrero compares The Rite of Spring to “heavy metal” — still astounding more than a century after its debut. Julia Perry’s 1952 Short Piece packs in vigorous rhythms, pensive melancholy, and thunderous sound effects. And the one-and-only Garrick Ohlsson, a longtime collaborator in Nashville, joins us for Brahms’ sublime First Piano Concerto.

The Rite of Spring

Laquita Mitchell is the soprano soloist in Barber's poignant evocation of American life as seen by a young child. Ethel Smyth takes the listener on a journey from nostalgia to mirth to triumph. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson employs an eclectic mix of musical styles; his Sinfonietta No. 1 is by turns searching and pensive, then rushes to a dramatic finale. A brooding piece for strings by Julia Perry begins the concert.

Conductor James Blachly serves as Associate Editor and Orchestral Liaison for the Metro Detroit-based African Diaspora Music Project (ADMP), directed by University of Michigan professor Dr. Louise Toppin. The ADMP database has thus far compiled more than 1,300 published works for orchestra by African diaspora composers, including those by Perkinson and Perry. The DSO is proud to highlight the work of the ADMP with these performances.

Summer Serenade

Kirk in the Hills

Our Lady Star of the Sea

North Ridge Church

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts

Under the baton of conductor Osmo Vänskä, former music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra presents neoclassical composer, pianist, and conductor Julia Perry’s dynamic Study for Orchestra (originally titled A Short Piece for Orchestra when it premiered in Turin, Italy, in 1952). This fiercely raucous, high-octane work shifts gears between intensely dramatic moments reminiscent of a menacing Bernard Hermann film score and quiet, poetic passages. In 1965, Perry’s energetic piece made history as the first work by a woman of color to be performed and recorded by the New York Philharmonic and only the third by a female composer.

Perry, Schumann, and Mahler

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

A protégé of Nadia Boulanger and two-time Guggenheim Fellow winner, Julia Perry was an important voice in mid-twentieth century American music combining neo-classicism with African American culture in her art.

Variations on Nutcracker Suite

Ohio Theatre

Ravel’s Mother Goose began its life as a group of piano miniatures, which later were brilliantly orchestrated, and then finally expanded into the ballet score that we will present to you. It is a magical score filled with wonder on every page, and finishes with one of the most-profound climaxes of the 20th century. Grieg’s Piano Concerto was to prove highly influential to impressionists such as Ravel, and its second movement is a heartfelt response to the birth of his daughter. I’m especially excited to present the work of Julia Perry, an African-American woman living in the mid-20th century, whose brilliantly-crafted music is a unique expression of neoclassical sensibilities distilled through the challenges she faced as a female composer of color in the United States.

Fairy Tales

The Empress Theatre

Seong-Jin Cho brings “world-class technique, polished to a high sheen of expression” (Los Angeles Times) to Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, nicknamed Emperor for its regal temperament. Jaap van Zweden also conducts Shostakovich’s powerful symphony, which explores emotion without self-pity,  and Julia Perry’s Study for Orchestra, a piece that is at times edgy, lyrical, and even raucous.

Beethoven’s "Emperor" Concerto and Shostakovich

Our second Salon, Les Parisiennes , focuses on the women composers trailblazing during the years of the Parisian Belle époque, with songs that broke barriers, pushing past the domestic confines of Paris’ salons to the city’s grand, public concert halls. The program includes works by Cecile Chaminade, Pauline Viardot , and Nadia and Lili Boulanger, performed by Nicholas Phan, plus soprano, mezzo-soprano and piano.

SFP Salons: Nicholas Phan Tenor

War Memorial Veterans Building

Sarasota Orchestra closes its season with a program of works that left the door open for more. No one is certain why Schubert never finished his Eighth Symphony, but the two movements that he did compose remain among his most beloved. Julia Perry’s Short Piece for Orchestra was the first work by a woman of color to be performed by the New York Philharmonic; Perry’s life and career were cut short at age 55. In his Symphony No. 45, Haydn sent a not-so subtle message to his employer that the orchestra was ready for a break. This symphony has delighted audiences for over 250 years and concludes our 76th season with a chuckle as each musician exits the stage in a dramatic send-off.

Julia Perry

Events

Upcoming events

6 - 7 Feb, 2026

Celebrating America: From Cello to Copland · Grand Rapids Symphony

May 16, 2026

Unfinished Business · Sarasota Orchestra

Past events

6 - 7 Feb, 2026

Celebrating America: From Cello to Copland · Grand Rapids Symphony

Nov 28, 2025

Échos romantiques · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

About

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