The program is bookended by the music of another American icon, George Gershwin. The evening begins with his rousing Cuban Overture, inspired by a trip to Havana and combining traditional Cuban rhythms with Gershwin’s original themes. The program closes with Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F Major featuring American pianist Clayton Stephenson. At just 26 years old, Stephenson has been praised for his joyous charisma on stage and natural ease at the instrument. In 2022, he became the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and has received critical acclaim for his “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and interpretations that are “fresh, incisive and characterfully alive” (Gramophone).

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