Shake off the January chill and escape into a soundscape of renewal and light. As winter settles over Kansas, the Symphony offers a musical sanctuary featuring guest conductor Vinay Parameswaran and the radiant virtuosity of pianist Julie Coucheron. The program opens with the festive, rhythmic energy of Vivian Fung’s Parade, a work that captures the spirit of a community coming to life. The atmosphere builds with Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a masterpiece of breathless momentum and shimmering melodic grace that showcases Coucheron’s "compelling musicianship." Finally, wander through a sun-drenched landscape with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral." From the gentle murmur of a brook to the triumphant calm after a summer storm, this beloved symphony serves as a vibrant bridge to spring—a profound reminder of the warmth and beauty of the natural world.

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Gold medal winner of the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition, Canadian Jaeden Izik-Dzurko makes his VSO debut with Grieg’s Piano Concerto, instantly recognizable from its thundering opening chords. Maestro Tausk leads the orchestra in Liszt’s Les préludes and Richard Strauss’ poignant Death and Transfiguration. Canadian composer Vivian Fung’s Parade explores the journey from isolation to togetherness.

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Gold medal winner of the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition, Canadian Jaeden Izik-Dzurko makes his VSO debut with Grieg’s Piano Concerto, instantly recognizable from its thundering opening chords. Maestro Tausk leads the orchestra in Liszt’s Les préludes and Richard Strauss’ poignant Death and Transfiguration. Canadian composer Vivian Fung’s Parade explores the journey from isolation to togetherness.

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Program:
Ruo, Chamber Concerto No. 3: Divergence
Fung, String Quartet No. 4: “Insects & Machines”
Takemitsu, And Then I know, ‘Twas Wind
Gubaidulina, Garden of Joy and Sorrow
Ruo, Chamber Concerto No. 2: The Lost Garden

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Program

Saturday, April 3rd, 2027- 7:30 PM at Sunset Center
With a pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM.

J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750)  Two Chorale Preludes (trans. Ferruccio Busoni)  
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)  Piano Sonata No. 13 in Eb major, Op. 27 no. 1 “Quasi una Fantasia”  
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)  Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# minor, Op. 27 no. 2 “Quasi una Fantasia” (“Moonlight”)  

Intermission

Elena Ruehr (b. 1963)  The Gork (2024)  
Vivian Fung (b. 1975) Down and Dirty (2023) – Third Movement  
Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849) Polonaise-Fantaisie in Ab major, Op. 61 (1846)  
Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 (1841)  

Performers

Jon Nakamatsu, piano

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Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) / Ferruccio Busoni (1866 - 1924): Two Chorale Preludes
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2, Op. 27 “Quasi una Fantasia”
Elena Ruehr (b. 1963): The Gork
Vivian Fung (b. 1975): A Little Down-and-Dirty
Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61
Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Fantaisie, Op. 49
Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22

Performers

Jon Nakamatsu, piano

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A program rooted in musical storytelling, featuring recorder virtuoso Vincent Lauzer. From battlefield drama to literary adventure and Celtic evocation to contemporary reflection, this concert reveals the Baroque as vivid narrative theatre, rich with character and imagination.
Presented with the Winnipeg Baroque Festival

H. I. F. Biber
Battalia à 10  

Vivian Fung
Baroque Melting (MCO commission reprise)  

Crispin Ward
Celtic Concerto for Recorder and Strings 

G. P. Telemann
Burlesque de Quichotte (Don Quixote Suite) 

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Program
Vivian Fung, String Quartet No. 1
George Walker, String Quartet No. 1
Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet No. 6

Chamber Socials are an intimate evening out by candlelight with food, drink, and spectacular live music performed by the principal players of the PGSO.  Appetizers are included with table seats, and a cash bar is available to all. Doors open at 6:30pm and patrons are encouraged to arrive early to find a seat.

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Program
Vivian Fung, String Quartet No. 1
George Walker, String Quartet No. 1
Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet No. 6

Chamber Socials are an intimate evening out by candlelight with food, drink, and spectacular live music performed by the principal players of the PGSO.  Appetizers are included with table seats, and a cash bar is available to all. Doors open at 6:30pm and patrons are encouraged to arrive early to find a seat.

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In the season-concluding concert of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s 98th season, embark on a dazzling symphonic journey showcasing nature’s profound influence across every realm of experience – from human emotion and artistic expression to the architecture we build and the technologies we create.

Fung’s mystifying and imaginative Aqua plays off of the architectural beauty and dizzying height of Chicago’s award-winning, 82-story Aqua Tower. Machover’s FLOW Symphony invites AI onto the stage to interact with the orchestra, creating unique aquatic soundscapes that transport you to an immersive experience like no other. Debussy’s La Mer evokes the splendor of the ocean’s power and majesty with shimmering orchestral color.

Lauded for his “astonishing command of keyboard tone and color” (The Guardian), pianist and 2025 International Chopin Piano Competition gold medalist Eric Lu returns to Ann Arbor to take on Brahms’ monumental Piano Concerto No. 1, widely regarded as one of the most expansive and demanding works in the piano repertoire.

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Juilliard Orchestra
Xian Zhang, Conductor

Vivian FUNG New Work (Juilliard commission, World premiere)
KODÁLY Dances of Galánta
STRAUSS Suite from Der Rosenkavalier

Music director of the Seattle Symphony Xian Zhang leads the Juilliard Orchestra in its final concert of the season. Zhang, a Grammy- and Emmy-winning conductor, has regularly performed new works by the composer and Juilliard alum Vivian Fung and gives a world premiere by Fung, commissioned by Juilliard.
 
The celebratory occasion is met with dances in the orchestra, first with Zoltan Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, which transforms central European folk music from Hungary and Slovakia into a rollicking symphonic ride. Richard Strauss, on the other hand, skews to the more elegant dance forms in his opera Der Rosenkavalier, with the suite moving between enchanting waltzes and the lush sounds of a love story.

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It took 21 years, from sketches to finishing touches, for Brahms to complete his first symphony due to pressures to match Beethoven's reputation and genius. LA Phil's harpist Emmanuel Ceysson brings special concerto written for him in 2024 by famed Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi.

Plus, Edmonton-born composer Vivian Fung's piece was influenced by Chinese plucked instruments and the energetic rhythms of gamelan.

Earl Lee, Conductor
Emmanuel Ceysson, Harp

Program
Brahms, Symphony No. 1
Hisaishi, Harp Concerto (ESO Premiere)
Fung, Pizzicato (ESO Premiere)

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It took 21 years, from sketches to finishing touches, for Brahms to complete his first symphony due to pressures to match Beethoven's reputation and genius. LA Phil's harpist Emmanuel Ceysson brings special concerto written for him in 2024 by famed Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi.

Plus, Edmonton-born composer Vivian Fung's piece was influenced by Chinese plucked instruments and the energetic rhythms of gamelan.

Earl Lee, Conductor
Emmanuel Ceysson, Harp

Program
Brahms, Symphony No. 1
Hisaishi, Harp Concerto (ESO Premiere)
Fung, Pizzicato (ESO Premiere)

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