Conductor: Chen Yang

Soloist: Courtenay Cleary (violin)

PROGRAM:
Mikhail Glinka | Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila
Felix Mendelssohn | Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
Sergei Prokofiev | Romeo and Juliet (Selections from Suites 1 & 2)

We conclude our 2021 season under the baton of Chen Yang, beginning with Glinka’s quicksilver curtain opener, the overture to Ruslan and Ludmila.

After recently returning from the USA completing her Master of Music degree at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, violin sensation Courtenay Cleary joins us to perform Mendelssohn’s superlative Violin Concerto in E minor – the composer’s last orchestral work and a jewel in the crown of violin repertoire.

We conclude 2021 with selections from Prokofiev’s much beloved ballet music from Romeo and Juliet. From capricious and playful depictions of the young Juliet, heart wrenching motifs of the lovers’ turmoil, and the ominous portrait of the feuding families in The Montagues and Capulets, it is easy to understand how this music has found wide affection and is perhaps Prokofiev’s most well-known work.