Rhapsodies in Red, White
and Blue

The Festival goes Stateside for an evening of 20th century North American classics inspired by the pilgrims of New England, the upheavals of civil war and the spirit of prohibition.

Conductor and composer Gunther Schuller has an extraordinary career that spans performing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and jamming alongside Miles Davis, making him the ideal conductor for tonight's concert.

Aaron Copland made use of folk songs such as Camptown Races and quotations from Abraham Lincoln, including excerpts from his Gettysburg Address, to create a homage to America's great President. Steven Osborne joins the orchestra for Gershwin's quintessentially American Rhapsody in Blue, performed here in its jazziest incarnation. Charles Ives's Fourth Symphony brings this concert to a colourful climax.