About the Program

The 2026-27 Masterworks season opens with a program exploring the many influences that have shaped American music. Music Director Aram Demirjian brings together works connected by questions of identity, cultural exchange, and the search for an American musical voice, culminating in George Gershwin’s vibrant An American in Paris.

The evening opens with Is This the Happiest Place on Earth? by Korean American composer Nicky Sohn and continues with Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto featuring acclaimed cellist Sterling Elliott. During his years in the United States, Dvořák encouraged American composers to build a national musical tradition inspired by the country’s own diverse musical heritage, an idea that would influence generations of composers.

That thread continues with William Grant Still’s groundbreaking Afro-American Symphony, the first symphony by a Black composer to be performed by a major American orchestra. Before each movement, KSO Poet-in-Residence Rhea Carmon will present poetry by Paul Laurence Dunbar, whose writing inspired Still as he created the work.

The program concludes with Gershwin’s An American in Paris, his musical portrait of an American visitor experiencing the sights, sounds, and energy of Paris. Together, these works reflect the many ways composers have explored what American music is, where it comes from, and how it continues to evolve.