Stephen Fairbanks, conductor
Nathan Sawyer, assistant director
Hannah Reitz, guest conductor
Frances Ho, guest conductor
Program:
Dmitri Shostakovich, Overture on Kirghiz and Russian Folk Themes
Alexander Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia
Nusrat Wajiding, Homeland (North American premiere)
Dai Wei, Dancing Moonlight
Friedrich Smetana, The Moldau
Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Finale from Symphony No. 2 (Ukrainian)
Philharmonia presents works from the musically rich tradition of Central Asia, highlighting Krygy, Russian, Uyghur, and Chinese melodies, with works by Shostakovich, Borodin, and Wajiding. Notably, the Philharmonia’s performance of Nurat Wajiding’s Homeland will be a North American premiere. The theme of “homeland” carries into the second half, where the orchestra offers three further musical portrayals of the intersecting relationships between location, music, and identity, featuring works by Dai, Smetana, and Tchaikovsky.