Maestro Leon Botstein shares the stories behind the music in a lively 30-minute Conductor’s Notes Q&A at 1 PM in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Free for all ticket holders.

RANDALL THOMPSON
Alleluia
Alleluia. Amen. Those two words alone make up this pensive choral work, written in reaction to the start of WWII and the fall of France. It was composed during Thompson’s time as the director of the Curtis School of Music. He went on to teach at both Princeton and Harvard.

HORATIO PARKER
Dream-King and his Love
And the winner is…. During his year teaching at the National Conservatory of Music, Parker’s cantata—which he called “among his favorite works”—took first prize in its category at a competition judged by the conservatory’s director, Antonín Dvořák. Parker went on to serve as Dean of Music at Yale.

GEORGE ROCHBERG
Symphony No. 2
4 years before being named chair of the music department at the University of Pennsylvania, Rochberg wrote his compelling and celebrated second symphony. This twelve-tone work is written in a style the composer called “hard romanticism,” and reflects his catharsis a decade after serving 3 years as an Army captain in WWII.

LEON KIRCHNER
Music for Cello and Orchestra
Talk about a great anniversary gift! Three years after retiring from Harvard University, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kirchner was chosen by his former student, Yo-Yo Ma, to write this piece on commission for the Philadelphia Orchestra in celebration of the 40th anniversary of a couple with whom Ma was friends.

ROBERTO SIERRA
Cantares (World Premiere)
Hurrah! In celebration of their 150th anniversary, Cornell University has commissioned one of its own, Roberto Sierra, to write this piece for the Cornell University Glee Club & Chorus. We are proud to premiere it with them at this concert.