Virtuoso violinist Sarah Chang returns to NatPhil for Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in a program conducted by Maestro Piotr Gajewski. Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 is a masterpiece of Romantic music with soaring melodies and lush harmonies that make it one of the most beloved works in the violin repertoire. Paired with the concerto on the first half of the program is Cuban-born composer Tania León’s Ácana, inspired by Cuban Laureate Poet Nicolás Guillén’s poem dedicated to the towering ácana tree, an essential force in Cuban life and society. León received the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music and was named a recipient of the 45th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements in 2022.

Florence Price’s groundbreaking Symphony No. 1 draws from Price’s classical European musical training while weaving in folk songs, African American spirituals, and the blues. Price’s work brims with passion, energy, and emotion, and serves as a testament to her remarkable talent as a composer. The premiere of Symphony No. 1 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933 serves as a landmark in American music history as the first symphony composed by a Black woman to be performed by a major orchestra in the country. Her outstanding compositions remain a powerful expression of the African American experience.