California Symphony presents EPIC FINALE at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek on Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 15 at 4:00 p.m. The 2021/22 season finale concerts feature Tchaikovsky's epic Symphony No. 5, Nathan Chan performing Elgar's iconic Cello Concerto, and the West Coast premiere of Next Week's Trees by Young American Composer-in-Residence Viet Cuong. 

Bay Area native Nathan Chan’s musical career began when he debuted as a conductor with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra at the age of three. In 2009, at 16, he was profiled in British TV series The World's Greatest Musical Prodigies. He performs Elgar's poignant and much-loved Cello Concerto. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is the composer's most often performed symphony. A musical theme representing fate threads through the entire piece, transforming from dark and menacing in the first movement to joyous and triumphant by the fourth and final movement. Resident composer Viet Cuong has been acclaimed as “wildly alluring” and “inventive” by the New York Times. Next Week's Trees takes its name from American Poet Mary Oliver’s Walking to Oak-Head Pond, And Thinking Of The Ponds I Will Visit In The Next Days And Weeks, and Cuong describes the work as “a gentle reminder of the uncertainty of the future, the confident hope of the present, and the propulsive force of live that drives us through any doubt that a new day will arrive.”  Presented virtually in May 2021, the work receives its long awaited in-person premiere at California Symphony. 

Location: Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr, Walnut Creek, CA 94596 

Conductor: Donato Cabrera 

Featured Artists: Viet Cuong, Nathan Chan (cello) 

Program: Cuong— Next Week’s Trees (West Coast Premiere); Elgar—Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky—Symphony No.5 

Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.californiasymphony.org/shows/epic-finale/