First Baptist Church of Asheville

Darko Butorac, conductor

Blake Pouliot, violin

From Vienna to old Hollywood, we bring operatic charm and glamour to the stage with a program featuring selections from Mahler and Mozart alongside Strauss’s ostentatious Der Rosenkavalier and a sparkling violin concerto by Korngold, an early Hollywood composer.

Mozart Overture from Le nozze di Figaro

Korngold Violin Concerto

Mahler Adagietto from Symphony No. 5

Strauss Der Rosenkavalier 

Darko Butorac, conductor

Blake Pouliot, violin

From Vienna to old Hollywood, we bring operatic charm and glamour to the stage with a program featuring selections from Mahler and Mozart alongside Strauss’s ostentatious Der Rosenkavalier and a sparkling violin concerto by Korngold, an early Hollywood composer.

Mozart Overture from Le nozze di Figaro

Korngold Violin Concerto

Mahler Adagietto from Symphony No. 5

Strauss Der Rosenkavalier 

Darko Butorac, conductor

Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin

Shanshan Yao, violin

Noah Bendix-Balgley and Shanshan Yao headline this all-violin, all-concerto program as a husband and wife duo. An iconic Chinese work for violin and orchestra, Butterfly Lovers kicks off the program with virtuosic and intertwining melodies. The delicate dance between the two violins continues with Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. Finally, Bendix-Balgley takes on the grand finale: Brahms’s one and only violin concerto, famed for its technically demanding passages and stunning lyricism.

Zhanhao/Gang Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto

J. S. Bach Double Violin Concerto

Brahms Violin Concerto

Darko Butorac, conductor

Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin

Shanshan Yao, violin

Noah Bendix-Balgley and Shanshan Yao headline this all-violin, all-concerto program as a husband and wife duo. An iconic Chinese work for violin and orchestra, Butterfly Lovers kicks off the program with virtuosic and intertwining melodies. The delicate dance between the two violins continues with Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. Finally, Bendix-Balgley takes on the grand finale: Brahms’s one and only violin concerto, famed for its technically demanding passages and stunning lyricism.

Zhanhao/Gang Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto

J. S. Bach Double Violin Concerto

Brahms Violin Concerto

Darko Butorac, conductor

Bryan Terrell Clark, narrator & vocalist

 Few have made a greater impact on the history of our nation than its sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln, and its first, George Washington. Copland chose Lincoln as his subject to express “the magnificent spirit of our country,” using selections from his speeches in the narration — which will be voiced by Bryan Terrell Clark, best known for starring as George Washington in Broadway’s Hamilton. This all-American program begins with a newly commissioned Jennifer Higdon suite and concludes with Dawson’s 1934 masterpiece, a work that is uniquely representative of its Black roots.

Higdon Cold Mountain Suite

Copland Lincoln Portrait

Miranda “History Has Its Eyes on You” from Hamilton

Dawson Negro Folk Symphony

Darko Butorac, conductor

Bryan Terrell Clark, narrator & vocalist

 Few have made a greater impact on the history of our nation than its sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln, and its first, George Washington. Copland chose Lincoln as his subject to express “the magnificent spirit of our country,” using selections from his speeches in the narration — which will be voiced by Bryan Terrell Clark, best known for starring as George Washington in Broadway’s Hamilton. This all-American program begins with a newly commissioned Jennifer Higdon suite and concludes with Dawson’s 1934 masterpiece, a work that is uniquely representative of its Black roots.

Higdon Cold Mountain Suite

Copland Lincoln Portrait

Miranda “History Has Its Eyes on You” from Hamilton

Dawson Negro Folk Symphony

Darko Butorac, conductor

Drew Petersen, piano

Art inspires art in turn. This is particularly true for Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition, which were inspired by a series of works by Viktor Hartmann, an architect and painter. Mussorgsky’s ten movements, originally written for piano, depict subjects like the legendary Baba Yaga, The Old Castle, and the Great Gate of Kiev. The symphonic work we know today was orchestrated after Mussorgsky’s death by Ravel, who makes an additional appearance on the program with his first piano concerto. Rounding out the program is an Evening Serenade by Silvestrov, Ukraine’s foremost composer.

Silvestrov Evening Serenade

Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major

Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition

Darko Butorac, conductor

Drew Petersen, piano

Art inspires art in turn. This is particularly true for Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition, which were inspired by a series of works by Viktor Hartmann, an architect and painter. Mussorgsky’s ten movements, originally written for piano, depict subjects like the legendary Baba Yaga, The Old Castle, and the Great Gate of Kiev. The symphonic work we know today was orchestrated after Mussorgsky’s death by Ravel, who makes an additional appearance on the program with his first piano concerto. Rounding out the program is an Evening Serenade by Silvestrov, Ukraine’s foremost composer.

Silvestrov Evening Serenade

Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major

Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition