American Celebrations
To coincide with Abraham Lincoln’s 215th birthday on February 12th, we celebrate with a concert dedicated to American music.
- Bernstein – Candide Overture
- Barber – Adagio for Strings
- Copland – Appalachian Spring
- Bernstein – Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety
Composer Aaron Copland was commissioned to write music for a ballet with ‘An American Theme’ and the resulting Appalachian Spring has been much loved ever since its premiere in 1944. Samuel Barber’s popular Adagio for Strings has featured in many television and film soundtracks due to its beautiful and emotional character. The piece originally formed the second movement of one of Barber’s String Quartets but the composer was encouraged to arrange it for string orchestra, and it has been a hit ever since.
We also mark the LGBTQ+ History Month and explore the work of Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein, whose bisexuality was well known, spoke of Aaron Copland as his “only real composition teacher”, although he was never Copland’s formal student. We open and close our concert with two of Bernstein’s works: the lively and very popular overture to Candide and his Symphony No.2: The Age of Anxiety, scored for solo piano and orchestra.
For events taking place at the Weston Auditorium, Bar Ambition is the place to go for food and drink. We strongly advise pre-ordering any refreshments to avoid a delay in the interval. Click here to find out more.
Please note that all UH Student tickets will be allocated within the upper circle of the auditorium.
Following University guidelines, our Box Office will be cashless from 1 January 2024.