Mei-Ann Chen conducts Jessie Montgomery, Gershwin, and Rachmaninov — With Aaron Diehl

The exceptional young musicians of NYO2 make their return to New World Center in Miami this summer, under the expert baton of Mei-Ann Chen and alongside pianist Aaron Diehl in a contemporary program centered around composers with strong American ties!

Opening the concert is a single-movement symphonic work by American composer Jessie Montgomery, entitled Soul Force: the music takes the form of a march, beginning with sparse instrumentation that grows fuller and more vibrant on the way to a triumphant climax. The work's title, directly inspired by Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, pays homage to those who raised their voices against oppression and forged new communities and cultural bonds. The evening continues with Gershwin's spirited, irresistible Piano Concerto in F—premiered in the very same spot to great enthusiasm in December 1925, and a mainstay of the repertoire in the nearly 100 years since. The concert concludes with Rachmaninov's celebrated Symphonic Dances, written in the composer's adopted homeland of California where he spent his final years. Rachmaninov's final major work, it takes up motifs from his earlier oeuvre, nodding to the vast and extraordinary body of work that would form his legacy.