Ben Hong

Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Schumann’s Cello Concerto

Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s
Dwayne S. Milburn, Music Director and Conductor
Ben Hong, cello
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto, Op. 129
LEÓN: Music Guild Commissioned Work (World Premiere)
COPLAND: Appalachian Spring Suite (full orchestra version)

The season closes with American openness, Romantic intensity, and a world premiere created for the Music Guild. Ben Hong, Associate Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, joins the Chamber Orchestra for Schumann’s deeply expressive Cello Concerto. The evening also features the premiere of a new Music Guild commission by María Eugenia León, incorporating the timple, a bright-toned string instrument from her native Canary Islands. Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite brings the season to a radiant close with music that evokes space, hope, and renewal.