A Symphonic Celebration

Shostakovich’s vivacious Festive Overture provides an appropriately celebratory opening to Shepherd’s 50th anniversary year. Mason Bates’s Mothership fuses classical instrumentation with action-packed improvisatory solos, while Strauss’s wild and suggestive Don Juan demands dazzling virtuosity from every section. Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 culminates in a shimmering, ecstatic crescendo, one of the most breathtaking finales in the orches...