Music Director Finalist Kelly Kuo returns to Reno after the postponement of this program in March. Thankfully he is able to be joined again by soloist Bion Tsang for Shostakovich’s powerful first cello concerto. Beethoven was still young and coming to terms with humanity- and his own hearing loss- while writing his second symphony. He used the opportunity to begin pushing traditions, foreshadowing his groundbreaking later symphonies. Shostakovich- long threatened by the cultural terror of Stalin- was more free to express himself by the concerto’s writing in 1959. The result is a capstone for the cello as an instrument, bringing triumph and inspiration to all audiences.

• Kelly Kuo, Music Director finalist
• Bion Tsang, cello

• KERNIS: Musica Celestis
• TAN DUN: Crouching Tiger Concerto (Bion Tsang, cello)
• SCHUBERT: (Arr. Mahler) – Death and the Maiden

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