A Poignant Program Exploring America's Legacy

Ahead of his official tenure as the Seattle Symphony's next music director starting in 2019, renowned Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard leads an essential program of works that unify and celebrate our differences. The evening begins with Pulitzer Prize-winning African American composer George Walker's Sinfonia No. 5 "Visions", a moving mediation on the 2015 Charleston church massacre interwoven with American spiritual and gospel references.

Rising classical music tour-de-force performer Nicola Benedetti then joins the ensemble to scale the virtuosic heights of 20th century Dutch composer Karol Szymanowski's patriotic Violin Concerto No. 2 before the orchestra closes the program with the soul-stirring optimism of Dvorak's New World Symphony. Written in response to America's welcoming reception of the composer in the late 1800s, its Native American and spiritual-inspired melodies have made it one of the most popular symphonies of all time.