Description:

A highlight of The Philadelphia Orchestra's 2009-10 season is the world premiere of the Violin Concerto by George Walker, a prolific composer with longstanding ties to Philadelphia and its orchestra. Born in 1922 and living in New Jersey, Walker was the first black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in music--in 1996, for his Lilacs. The soloist for the Concerto is the composer's son, violinist Gregory Walker, currently concertmaster of the Boulder Philharmonic. The program concludes with The Ring: An Orchestral Adventure, a fanciful assembly of music from Wagner's 15-hour, four-evening Ring operatic cycle.

Listen to Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker discussing his new Violin Concerto

Related Concerts:

• March 25, 2010
  Mozart and Elgar
• March 26, 2010
  Mozart and Elgar
• April 10, 2010
  The Rite of Spring
• May 28, 2010
  Mozart and Rachmaninoff
• June 12, 2010
  Mahler's Third Symphony

Concert Enhancements:

Free Pre-Concert Conversation one hour prior to concert (About Pre-Concert Conversations)

Program Notes:

December 10, 2009 Download Adobe Acrobat to view Program Notes.

Series Information:

Part of the 2010 Odyssey Collection, and package Thursday 4

Part of the 2010 Weekday Collection, and package Thursday 4