Joan Huang: Tu-Jia Dance
Jasmine Barnes: Four Winds Concertante
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 (“Reformation”)
Anthony Parnther’s Classical subscription debut pairs works elevating underrepresented voices with a seminal symphony. Known for her seamless fusion of Chinese folk music with Western compositional techniques, Joan Huang conjures the robust and rhythmic ritual dance traditions of the Tujia people of western Hunan. Jasmine Barnes’ Four Winds Concertante features Principal Oboe Titus Underwood and three principal players from other leading U.S. orchestras. And Mendelssohn, a devout admirer of Bach, wrote his Fifth Symphony in commemoration of the Protestant Reformation, heavily quoting the Lutheran chorale A Mighty Fortress is Our God.