COPLAND Suite from 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨
GERSHWIN 𝘙𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦
ELLINGTON 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘈-𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯’
COPLAND Suite from 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥

This program of three quintessentially American composers paints a musical portrait of the country as they knew it: full of promises, tensions, and fraught beauty. In conversation, pianist Marc-André Hamelin reflects on his early exposure to jazz and his approach to interpreting the music of Gershwin and Ellington, and conductor David Robertson considers each piece a lens for the nation itself. The frontier austerity of 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 and the bustling urban energy of 𝘙𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 capture the diversity of 20th-century American landscapes, while cultural landscapes emerge from Ellington’s dream of a brighter future and Copland’s groping postwar lament.