UMD Symphony Orchestra with Marc-André Hamelin
UMD Symphony Orchestra with Marc-André Hamelin
About the Event
David Neely, music director
Jason Max Ferdinand, music director, UMD Concert Choir
Celebrate 25 years of The Clarice with the UMD Symphony Orchestra’s 2025–26 Season debut, showcasing iconic American composers and American-inspired works!
This performance opens with Leonard Bernstein’s rousing Overture to Candide, a piece equally erratic and whimsical as the novella that inspired it. UMSO is then joined by the UMD Concert Choir, led by Director of Choral Activities Jason Max Ferdinand, for a moving rendition of Robert Nathaniel Dett’s The Chariot Jubilee, a piece widely acknowledged to be the first-ever symphonic work based solely on African American spirituals.
In partnership with Clarice Presents, UMSO will feature internationally renowned pianist Marc-André Hamelin for George Gershwin’s Concerto in F. Gershwin’s signature style and inspirations come together in a spectacularly catchy piece that demonstrates the full virtuosity of the piano in a true American style: jazz.
The performance concludes with Antonin Dvořák's immortal ninth symphony, “From the New World.” Composed during his time at the National Conservatory in New York, Dvořák was deeply inspired by the folk music of Indigenous and African American communities. The result is a work full of rich stories and motifs that create a vision of the American spirit rarely acknowledged in his time.
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Program
Leonard Bernstein: Overture to Candide
Robert Nathaniel Dett: The Chariot Jubilee with UMD Concert Choir
George Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F with Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
About the UMD Symphony Orchestra
Through its committed and polished performances under the baton of David Neely, UMSO is dedicated to the power of musical communication. In its repertoire, the orchestra explores the intersection between traditional symphonic masterworks and marginalized works from various eras, with many programs featuring composers of diverse backgrounds.
About UMD Choral Activities
Led by choral conducting alumnus Jason Max Ferdinand D.M.A. ’15, UMD's choral program is internationally regarded and offers students a wide array of choral experiences with music encompassing all styles and eras. In addition to on campus performances, the UMD Concert Choir participates in collaborations with both the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at premier venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.
