Composer

Written as Stalin's Great Terror campaign made music a matter of life and death for Soviet composers, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony is a searing search for hope in a time of darkness and oppression. Fear and vulnerability also hover over Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, its hushed laments and demonic dissonances mirroring the composer's anguish upon his imminent return to the Soviet Union.

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Shostakovich 5: Heroism and Hope

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Music Director Jaap van Zweden and the NY Phil return to the Music in the Summer Air festival in Shanghai, China. They perform moving songs by the maestro’s great predecessor, with noted Mahlerian Thomas Hampson as soloist, along with a glistening work by Nina Shekhar and Brahms’s powerful and virtuosic Fourth Symphony.

Shanghai: Van Zweden & Hampson Perform Mahler

Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall

Music Director Jaap van Zweden and the NY Phil return to Guangzhou, China, to perform moving songs by the maestro’s great predecessor, with noted Mahlerian Thomas Hampson as soloist, along with a glistening work by Nina Shekhar and Brahms’s powerful and virtuosic Fourth Symphony.

Guangzhou: Van Zweden & Hampson Perform Mahler

Guangzhou Opera House

LACO concludes the season with nods to the past and an eye towards the future. The world premiere of a Sound Investment commissioned piece by Nina Shekhar is complemented by Gabriela Montero’s rendition of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor and Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C major, his final symphonic work.

Departures

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Alex Theatre

“A shining feature in L.A.'s cultural landscape” (Los Angeles Times), the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has been an important staple in the Southern California arts scene for over 53 years, praised not only by local audiences and critics, but earning a reputation as one of the best ensembles of its kind in the world.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with Gabriela Montero

Anyone who has had the pleasure of experiencing Kian Soltani’s talent live will definitely want to see and hear him perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. Power and emotion: just the right programme for emeritus conductor Jaap van Zweden. After reading Wagner’s death notice, Anton Bruckner committed the first notes of his Symphony No. 7 to paper. His musical tribute to the Meister aller Meister was a tremendous success, from the premiere onwards. The work’s epic proportions, the grandiose orchestration, and the moving melodies all combine to make Bruckner’s Seventh one of his most popular works. Enjoy the ripple of emotions in the Adagio and the fierce power of the Finale in this highlight of the romantic repertoire.

Jaap van Zweden conducts Bruckner 7

Queen Elisabeth Hall

Concertgebouw Brugge

Centre for Fine Arts

Gustavo Dudamel, the New York Philharmonic’s next Music and Artistic Director, leads the Orchestra in a program that celebrates the past, present, and future of music education. Artist, actor, author, and activist Common; soprano Hera Hyesang Park; and guitarist and former New York Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams take turns in the spotlight. The NY Phil musicians perform several works side-by-side with student musicians from communities across New York City. Program to be announced.

Spring Gala with Gustavo Dudamel

David Geffen Hall

The highly anticipated total solar eclipse on Buffalo’s horizon illuminates the program selection of two contemporary composers to complement Holst’s dazzling interpretation of the cosmos, The Planets. Nina Shekhar’s haunting Lumina explores the concept of lightness and dark, while The Universe in Ecstatic Motion by Christopher Theofanidis is a showcase for pre-eminent flutist, Marina Piccinini.

Beyond The Planets

Kleinhans Music Hall

Nexus

University of California San Diego

The ensemble’s first concert of the winter quarter features the Chicago premiere of Nina Shekhar’s Turn Your Feet Around. In the composer’s words, the work “brings the nightclub to the concert hall. Using deconstructed and warped fragments of the ever fabulous Gloria Estefan’s 'Get On Your Feet' (1989), musicians have a chance to reconnect with their own physicality by dancing to wild reimagined grooves and ‘80s-style drum-beats.” Wang Lu’s Cross-Around, commissioned by the Montreal-based group Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, explores the intersections of the many types of events in the universe and the ways in which they play off each other. Also on the program are two world premieres by Bienen student composers Apsara Balamurugan and Oliver Mann. 

Contemporary Music Ensemble

Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall

The Pomona College Music Department invites you to Ray-Kallay Duo: Music of Californians.Music of Californians comprises a rich tapestry of composers past and present who have called California home. With multi-media elements, the program includes music by João Pedro Oliveira, Rand Steiger, Nina Shekhar, Sean Friar, Veronika Krausas, and Vicki Ray.

Ray-Kallay Duo: Music of Californians

Pomona College

2022 GRAMMY® Award winner and recipient of the 2020 Beverly Sills Award from the Metropolitan Opera, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo returns to Princeton, home of his alma mater, to perform Gregory Spears’ Love Story along with George Frideric Handel’s aria “Quella fiamma” from Arminio.

Anthony Roth Costanzo

Princeton University

California Festival: YOLA Institute Concert

Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center

From its commanding four-note opening to its blazing finish, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony remains the unrivaled expression of struggle and triumph in orchestral music. German baritone Christian Gerhaher, “the foremost art song singer of our time” (The New York Times), performs selections from Mahler’s The Youth’s Magic Horn. Inspired by Hindustani classical music, Nina Shekhar’s shimmering Lumina explores the contrast of light and dark.

Jaap van Zweden Conducts Beethoven 5

Symphony Center

Guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero opens the Philharmonic residency with the world premiere of a new work by Nina Shekhar and the Bravo! Vail premiere of Chick Corea’s Trombone Concerto written for Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi, in a program that includesDvořák’s beloved New World Symphony.    

The New York Philharmonic returns to Bravo! Vail for its annual summer residency, performing works both fresh and familiar with its signature brilliance and power.

Chick Corea’s Trombone Concerto

Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater

SONiC teams up with Luna Composition Lab and International Contemporary Ensemble to present a concert of brand new works by the 2022–23 Luna Lab Fellows. Founded in 2016 by composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Composition Lab provides mentorship and performance opportunities to young composers ages 13–18 who are female, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming. Missy Mazzoli, Ellen Reid, and George Lewis curate this evening of world premieres as well as additional works by Luna Lab mentors.

Luna Lab Composer Showcase

Mannes School of Music

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents Starry Night, an evocative chamber music concert about dreams and moonlit walks and talks. The world premiere of Josiah Catalan's flute concerto Night of the South Winds is featured alongside Arnold Schoenberg's Transfigured Night, Nina Shekhar's Bedtime Stories, and Sleepless Night, by Bay Area composer Marty Rokeach.

Starry Night

Piedmont Center for the Arts

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

The Seattle Symphony returns to the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center for a FREE community concert of new and celebrated music for orchestra. A pre-concert performance will feature students of the Key to Change Studio.

Community Concert in Renton

Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center

The Seattle Symphony performs a FREE community concert of new and celebrated music for orchestra in collaboration with Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra’s MY Southeast program.

Community Concert in Rainier Valley

Aki Kurose Middle School

Michelle Cann performs Mozart’s refined, radiant Piano Concerto No. 23 with former Seattle Symphony Conducting Fellow Lina González-Granados. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony was written to satisfy Stalin’s regime, yet within the complex beauty, forceful sonorities and triumphant conclusion, the true voice of the artist cannot be denied. Nina Shekhar’s Lumina explores the spectrum of light and dark.

Michelle Cann Plays Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23

Benaroya Hall

Praised for his “lovely, nuanced tenor” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Daniel McGrew is an active performer of a broad range of repertoires spanning opera, musical theatre, early and new musics. Deeply committed to the art of song, he has appeared in concert with Brooklyn Art Song Society, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Mirror Visions Ensemble, New York Festival of Song, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the University Musical Society.
As one of the most dynamic and versatile young musicians of her generation, New-York-based pianist and concert curator Sophia (Shuhui) Zhou has been performing as a soloist and chamber musician internationally in Carnegie Hall's Weil Concert Hall and National Sawdust in New York City, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, National Library of Catalonia, Juventudes Musicales in Sevilla and Shanghai Concert Hall.

Young Concert Artists: Daniel McGrew, tenor & Sophia Zhou, piano

Kaufman Music Center

Concertmaster Frank Huang solos in Mozart’s most popular violin concerto, nicknamed Turkish for the strings’ imitation of the drums of Ottoman soldiers. Jaap van Zweden also conducts Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, a colorful canvas of nature — complete with birds, brooks, and breezes — and Nina Shekhar’s prize-winning 2020 musical exploration of the spectrum from darkness to light.

After the Storm: Mozart, Beethoven, and Nina Shekhar

In celebrating the sounds of America, Aaron Copland is often the first composer to jump to mind—hear the familiar sounds of his Fanfare for the Common Man followed by his Suite from Our Town. Dvorák’s beloved New World Symphony will bring to a close this program that includes a World Premiere work by up-and-coming Nina Shekhar, and the Michigan premiere of James M. Stephenson’s Fanfare for Democracy.

New World Symphony

A distinctly female creative voice narrates this beguiling program highlighting the generative power of telling stories. Grammy-nominated Haitian American vocalist, flutist, and composer Nathalie Joachim teams with American composer, performer, and media artist Pamela Z, culminating in world premieres of music they have written for each other to perform.

Nathalie Joachim + Pamela Z

Walt Disney Concert Hall

The accordion takes center stage in this program. Hanzhi Wang has made it her goal to spread word of her novel solo instrument across the globe. She brings imagination and freedom to the premiere of Nina Shekhar’s new concerto. Barber’s teenaged School for Scandal Overture fizzes with energy. Dvořák’s beloved “New World” symphony searches for the musical soul of America. 

Dvořák's New World

University of Missouri-St. Louis

One of the most gifted young artists onstage today, Sheku Kanneh-Mason capitulated to international fame with his performance at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He makes his Pittsburgh Symphony debut with Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. Nina Shekhar’s new work “explodes like an orchestral supernova” (LA Times). The program is rounded out with two wonderfully passionate works by Strauss.

Kanneh-Mason Performs Shostakovich

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

Nina Shekhar’s Lumina is an enthralling blend of ethereal refrains and pulsating rhythms that transport you into a world of colorful sonic landscapes.

Nina Shekhar

Composer

Events

Upcoming events

10 - 11 Jan, 2025

Dvořák's New World · St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

21 - 23 Mar, 2025

Kanneh-Mason Performs Shostakovich · Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Apr 19, 2025

Season Finale · Anchorage Symphony Orchestra

Past events

23 - 25 Nov, 2024

Shostakovich 5: Heroism and Hope · Oregon Symphony

Jul 2, 2024

Shanghai: Van Zweden & Hampson Perform Mahler · New York Philharmonic

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