West Side Story

Daniel Meyer conductor 
Tessa Lark violin 

Hanson Symphony No. 5 'Sinfonia Sacra'
Torke Sky (co-commission)
Copland Music from Our Town
Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

In this program we explore what makes our Philharmonic sound distinctly American. 

We begin with Howard Hanson’s ‘Sinfonia Sacra’, an densely compact, unabashedly Romantic work that in turns revels in the sumptuous layering of orchestral textures against dramatic outbursts set in a musical grappling with the passion story of Christ. 

We continue to engage in the adventure of commissioning new works, and Michael Torke’s new violin concerto for young virtuoso Tessa Lark is a bluegrass-tinged work that promises to add an important new voice to our sonic landscape. 

The dean of the ‘American sound,’ Aaron Copland, created an evocative and tender score for the film adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and in this concert we present a suite of the most beautiful moments from that soundtrack. 

Icon Leonard Bernstein is perhaps best-known to this day for his ingenious fusion of popular and classical in his Broadway masterpiece, West Side Story.  In an effort to bring the spotlight on the details and brilliance of the score, Bernstein stitched the most poignant moments from the musical into an ingeniously-woven musical fabric.  From the shouts of ‘Mambo!’ to the heart-rending final chords of ‘Somewhere,’ these Symphonic Dances exist to remind us of what can happen when just the right elements conspire to reveal a true American genius.

Special Guest Tessa Lark

Violinist Tessa Lark, recipient of a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition, is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time. A budding superstar in the classical realm, she is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky.

Since making her concerto debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at sixteen, Ms. Lark has appeared with dozens of orchestras, festivals, and recital venues including Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, San Francisco Performances, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Marlboro Music. Highlights of her 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons included multiple performances of two works for violin and orchestra written for her: Love Letter by bassist-composer Michael Thurber, and Sky, a bluegrass-inspired concerto by Michael Torke premiered and recorded with the Albany (NY) Symphony Orchestra.

Additional recording projects include a fantasia-themed album including Ms. Lark’s own Appalachian Fantasy and works by Telemann, Ravel, Kreisler, and Schubert; Invention, a debut album of the violin-bass duo Tessa Lark & Michael Thurber that comprises music of J.S. Bach along with non-classical original compositions; and a genre-bending disc in collaboration with such artists as multi-instrumentalist/composer Jon Batiste and American fiddling legend Michael Cleveland.

Recent and upcoming activities include Australia’s Musica Viva festival—a four-concert engagement highlighted by a duo collaboration with bassist/composer Edgar Meyer—and debuts with the Seattle and Indianapolis symphonies. Scheduled for May 2020 is a Lincoln Center recital debut on its prestigious Great Performers Series.

Ms. Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory with an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

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