Saturday, February 20, 2027 | 7:30pm
Umstattd Hall | Zimmermann Symphony Center
2331 17th St. NW
Canton, OH 44708
DESCRIPTION
Guest conductor and music director finalist Yue Bao describes this concert program as an “exploration of different ways the natural world is translated into sound,” with light French and mystic Finnish repertoire that “moves from delicate, ethereal language to a showcase of monumental strength.”
Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps (“On a Spring Morning”) opens with a fleeting impression of morning light, its shimmering textures and rhythmic energy create a sound world that feels both light and translucent. Written in 1918, this work, along with its companion piece D’un soir triste (“On a Melancholy Evening”) were the last two pieces Lili Boulanger wrote before her untimely death at the age of 25.
Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, offers a contrasting perspective, exploring how nature meets human design. Written after a six-month tour across the United States, the Piano Concerto in G combines jazz-inflected rhythms, elegance, and modern urban life. The piece is distinctively Ravel and thus distinctively French, but still captures the commotion and bustle of city life across North America.
The program concludes with Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, where the ethereal evokes the elemental. Small musical ideas grow into sweeping, powerful structures, reminiscent of the vast landscapes and frozen lakes of Sibelius’s native Finland. Almost prayer-like in its captivating soundscape, Sibelius is quoted to have said, “My second symphony is a confession of the soul.”
PROGRAM
D’un matin de printemps………………………………………………..Lili Boulanger
Piano Concerto in G…………………………………………………………Maurice Ravel
Intermission
Symphony No. 2………………………………………………………………..Jean Sibelius
TICKETS
$20 / $35 / $45 / $60 / $70
Includes fees. Additional $2 to mail tickets.
College Students (18+): FREE
Children 17 and under: FREE
Veterans, First Responders, Healthcare Workers, & Educators: 20% off
SNAP & Medicaid Recipients: 20% off
Groups of 10 or more: 20% off
Subscribers: additional tickets 20% off
*Must call to redeem discounted tickets
*Discounts do not apply to Economy section
Box Office: 330-452-2094
boxoffice@cantonsymphony.org
Hotel Accomodations
The Canton Symphony Orchestra is a proud partner of Embassy Suites by Hilton at the Akron-Canton Airport, who have offered CSO patrons an exclusive rate to book rooms attending our concerts from out of town. To take advantage of this special offer, please click the link below or the image above. The rate is $135/night!
7883 Freedom Ave NW, North Canton, OH 44720 | (330) 305-0500
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Ying Li, piano
Chinese pianist Ying Li is a winner of the 2021 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, as well as recipient of The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival Prize and the Tri-I Noon Recitals Prize. She has also received top awards at the Antonio Mormone International Prize, Sarasota Artist Series Piano Competition, International Liszt Piano Competition for Young Pianists, and was a finalist at Concours musical international de Montréal.
She has performed with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, L’Accademia Orchestra del La Scala, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz, and the Stuttgart Philharmonic, with conductors Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Xian Zhang, Dan Ettinger, Eric Jacobsen, Jonathon Heyward, Dame Jane Glover, and Leslie Suganandarajah.
Her recent highlights include concerto appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Aiken Symphony, and the Salisbury Symphony, along with festival performances as a Bravo! Vail Piano Fellow, her debut at La Jolla SummerFest, and a return to the Nantucket Musical Arts Society. | LEARN MORE
Yue Bao, Conductor & Music Director Finalist
Yue Bao is a highly regarded conductor recognized for her clarity, musical integrity, and communicative leadership. Described by Classical MPR as having “delivered this evening,” Bao brings a focused yet elegant podium presence that consistently inspires orchestras to play with energy and precision. Bachtrack has praised her “graceful and elegant economy of movement,” noting the sense of lively cheerfulness she transmits to the ensemble.
Bao made her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut at the Ravinia Festival in 2021 and has since appeared with major orchestras across North America and Europe. In the current season, she returns to Munich to conduct the Munich Symphony Orchestra, leads the Calgary Philharmonic, and makes her debut with the Nuremberg Symfoniker. Additional engagements include the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Oviedo Filarmonía. Her recent and past collaborations include the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Bao has worked with distinguished soloists including Hélène Grimaud, Lang Lang, Jan Vogler, Vadim Gluzman, Bomsori Kim, Pablo Ferrández, Hera Hyesang Park, and Jeneba Kanneh-Mason.
Equally at home in symphonic and operatic repertoire, Bao has conducted works ranging from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Bizet’s Carmen to Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny: Ein Songspiel and Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium. Her operatic experience informs a collaborative, narrative-driven approach to orchestral programming and rehearsal. | LEARN MORE
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