Zoltán Kodály’s Háry János suite contains music extracted from Kodály’s opera of the same name, which tells the story of Háry János, “a peasant, a veteran soldier who day after day sits at the tavern spinning yarns about his heroic exploits.” The world premiere of Alice Ho’s Concerto for piano and orchestra follows; this work is subtitled “Pictures from an Imaginary Exhibition” (a nod to Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition) and is inspired by paintings by contemporary artists Wesley Tongson and Christina Petrowska Quilico, who also performs the solo piano part. The concert concludes with Anton Brucker’s Symphony no. 8, the last symphony that Bruckner completed. The symphony begins with a subdued opening that music theorist Heinrich Schenker describes as “like the beginning of the world,” before launching into the main theme proper. The final movement contains many recurrences of themes from the previous three movements, creating a uniquely unified symphonic work.

Kristian Alexander | conductor
Christina Petrowska Quilico | pianist
Daniel Vnukowski | host