Riccardo Muti Conducts An American Inspired Program

Spend an evening in the company of the one of the world's finest conductors. Resident Chicago Symphony Music Director Riccardo Muti leads the first-rate ensemble through a program of works inspired by the American musical landscape and traditional folk music.

The evening makes a thrilling start with Pulitzer Prize-winning African American composer George Walker's Lyric For Strings, a masterclass in tonal harmonies and bittersweet melancholic melodies. Following this is Aaron Copland's celebrated Lincoln Portrait, an orchestral tribute to the great President featuring narrational excerpts from his speeches.

Rounding off the program is Dvorak's stunning New World Symphony. Written during his time in America as the director of the National Conservatory Of Music Of America in the late 1800s, the symphony was inspired by African American spirituals and remains one of the most popular symphonies of all time.