Name: Patriotic Pops
Start: 2026-05-23T19:30:00
Location: Kleinhans Music Hall

Ron Spigelman

Sal Andolina

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Canadian Larysa Kuzmenko composed Fantasy on a Theme by Beethoven in celebration of his birthday. Haydn’s high-spirited and dramatic Cello Concerto No. 1 remained undiscovered for two centuries until its chance 1961 find at the Czech National Library. Fittingly, Grieg’s four charming Symphonic Dances, inspired by Norwegian folk, played a key role in formalizing Norway’s national identity.

Haydn Cello Concerto

Kleinhans Music Hall

For a limited time, purchase tickets to all three Candlelight Concerts for $250. Proceeds from these special events will benefit the BPO’s Education Programs.

Among the Music: A Candlelit Experience

Join your BPO and the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus for a patriotic tradition as we honor the men and women who have served our country and pay tribute to the American spirit.

Patriotic Pops

As the first of a trilogy of cantatas, Orff’s irreverent Carmina Burana draws from a 13th century compilation of vagabond songs and poems detailing fate’s fickleness, pagan delights, and corruption, with hypnotic sensuality and powerful rhythms. Hindemith’s reworked Symphonic Dances emerged from a discarded ballet collaboration.

Carmina Burana

Our season concludes with three iconic compositions and two orchestral world premieres. Bernstein’s toe-tapping Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, Copland’s distinctively American Appalachian Spring Suite, and Gershwin’s jazz-infused Rhapsody in Blue are paired with two works rooted in 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.