The Heavenly Life: Music of Mahler and Wachner

The New Orchestra of Washington opens its third season on Sunday, September 28 at 7 p.m. at the Kreeger Auditorium of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington.  The juxtaposition of the music of Gustav Mahler and Julian Wachner, composers/conductors of the past and present, is the driving force on this program. Arguably the most accessible of all Mahler symphonies, Symphony No. 4 is an exuberant display of tone-colors, moods, and images that change in kaleidoscopic fashion. This well-known work will sparkle – distilled and brilliant – through the lens of a rarely performed setting for chamber orchestra by German arranger Klaus Simon. The eminent soprano Linda Mabbs will be the featured soloist in the finale of this imposing work. To complete the program, Julian Wachner’s Chamber Symphony, a work commissioned by the New Orchestra of Washington, promises to thrill its audience in the special way that Wachner’s exciting music can.