America’s 250th birthday is in 2026, and every celebration needs good music! In this program of early American music, we look back in time at the early cultural life of our nation and discover the composers who created a uniquely American sound.

Free Concert at Klyde Warren Park

Klyde Warren Park

Free Concert for Special Needs Students and their Families

Hill School of Fort Worth

Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father, drafted the Constitution, discovered electricity, is on the $100 bill, and he composed music too.
Now you can hear the music he composed for only $45, instead of a Ben Franklin $100 bill!
Orchestra Lumos string musicians will perform the String Quartet composed by Benjamin Franklin.  Plus music by great American composers including George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and more.

Homegrown American Music

St Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk

EPSG:4326

A Juneteenth Celebration

The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center

A Concert for the New Year

Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center

Chelsea High School

Twelfth Baptist Church

Aaron Copland made four highly publicized government-sponsored trips to Latin America between 1941 and 1963. During these visits, he shared contemporary American concert music with Latin American audiences, including his own violin sonata, heard on tonight’s program. Back home, he drew US attention to the composers and musicians he met in Latin America, such as Heitor Villa-Lobos of Brazil and Silvestre Revueltas and Manuel Ponce of Mexico, all whom Copland knew personally and whose works are also featured. Another contemporary of Copland was the Black American composer William Grant Still, whose Panamanian Dances were inspired by a collection of Latin American folk songs. The history of Pan-American musical exchange predates Copland.

The Americas

Hanna Boys Center

José Silvestre de los Dolores White (1835-1918), also known as José White and Joseph White, was born in Matanzas, Cuba, during colonial times. He began playing the violin and composing at a young age. His professional debut occurred in 1854 alongside the American pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869), who inspired him to study at the Paris Conservatoire. There, he won the Premier Prix after less than one year of study. White gained global recognition as a soloist, composer, and pedagogue and, in the United States, he notably became the first soloist of African descent to perform with the New York Philharmonic Society, during his 1875-1876 tour. 

José White's Circle

Winner of a 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year Award, Jeremy Denk has been hailed by The New York Times as “a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination – both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing.” Two Beethoven sonatas bookend the first half of the program, creating an American sandwich of sorts, with a potpourri of fillings by Joplin, Gottschalk, Simone, and Bolcom. Experience the brilliant artistry of the one the world’s most insightful and innovative pianists!

AMFS: A Recital by Jeremy Denk piano 

Aspen Meadows Resort

Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals makes a welcome return to the repertory. An engagingly whimsical tale, with a libretto by the actor John Lithgow, the dance depicts a young boy who falls asleep in the Museum of Natural History, only to dream that the people in his life have taken animal shapes. Three varied Balanchine classics complete this family-friendly program: the lively pas de deux Tarantella; the effervescent Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, which showcases its dancers’ virtuosic technique; and the jubilant Stars and Stripes, Balanchine’s danced celebration of America and the march-master John Philip Sousa

Balanchine + Wheeldon

Lincoln Center

Balanchine’s deep affection for his adopted home animates this program of ballets all set to American music. Western Symphony is a vivacious suite of dances taking inspiration from the mythical Wild West. A similarly buoyant spirit infuses Stars and Stripes, with Balanchine seamlessly wedding classical steps with the rhythmic marches of John Philip Sousa, orchestrated by Hershey Kay. Tarantella employs a sprightly piece of music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk for a zesty and playful pas de deux that never fails to delight. Rounding out the program is The Unanswered Question from Ivesiana, a hypnotically alluring dance that captures the haunting, otherworldly music of Charles Ives.

All Balanchine I

What happens when the legendary Daniel Ulbricht takes New York City’s best dancers on the road? Santa Fe knows the answer— two magical nights of performance by Stars of American Ballet! Praised by The Boston Globe as “An unapologetic showcase of virtuosity,” Stars of American Ballet brings together today’s most remarkable ballet talents. Led by Daniel Ulbricht and featuring a cast of principal and soloist dancers from the New York City Ballet and other renowned companies, this collective returns with two unforgettable programs. Don’t miss out on this Santa Fe favorite. 

Stars of American Ballet II

Lensic Performing Arts Center

The natural world is filled with music. Louis Gottschalk set out to capture the sounds of the tropics at night and their Latin rhythms by day in his only symphony, A Night in the Tropics. Grofé heard a very different sonic landscape as he composed a musical journey through the Grand Canyon in his iconic Grand Canyon Suite. Most recently, Lori Laitman imagines the journey of life through melodic roots and branches in her Becoming a Redwood. Travel with us to these very special destinations in our “Back to Nature” concert.

Back to Nature

Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School

Free Concert at Chandor Gardens

Chandor Gardens

Join the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra for a vibrant evening of music—featuring the world premiere of CHROMA by acclaimed composer Stacy Garrop, commissioned through the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation and the League of American Orchestras. (CHROMA lives up to its name—exploring a dazzling spectrum of musical hues in a piece that is both inventive and deeply resonant.)

Gardens of Spain Gabriela Martinez, Piano

Butler University

Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Jeremy Denk is “a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs” (New York Times). Experience the soulful rhythms of Scott Joplin and Nina Simone, the rich harmonies of William Bolcom, alongside iconic works by Beethoven and Charles Ives.

Jeremy Denk, piano

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with Dances to American Music: Soul of America, a captivating performance by one of the country’s leading dance companies. Choreographed by the legendary Mark Morris, this program blends jazz, classical and folk music by iconic American composers, including George Gershwin, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, James P. Johnson and John Luther Adams. Morris brings his unique creativity and musical precision to life, fusing dance and live music to honor the vibrant spirit and diversity of America’s artistic heritage.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 20, 2026

Free Concert at Chandor Gardens · The Cliburn

Mar 21, 2026

Gardens of Spain Gabriela Martinez, Piano · Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

Apr 9, 2026

Jeremy Denk, piano · Philharmonic Society of Orange County

7 - 9 May, 2026

Dances to American Music: Three Preludes, Northwest, Pizzica, You've Got to Be Modernistic · Mark Morris Dance Group

Past events

Mar 17, 2026

Free Concert at Klyde Warren Park · The Cliburn

Mar 5, 2026

Free Concert for Special Needs Students and their Families · The Cliburn

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