Saturday, April 25th, 2026 | 7:30pm
Umstattd Hall | Zimmermann Symphony Center
2331 17th St. NW
Canton, OH 44708
DESCRIPTION
This concert will be conducted by Guest Conductor, Francesco Lecce-Chong.
As the nation marks 250 years since its founding, the Canton Symphony Orchestra closes its 2025–2026 MasterWorks season with a program that reflects the evolving American story through voices both historic and contemporary. We the People is an orchestral reckoning with identity, heritage, and the complexities of shared national memory.
Opening with Amy Beach’s Bal Masqué, we celebrate one of the first prominent American women composers, who so brilliantly captured the spirit of early 20th-century American romanticism. Violinist Zhan Shu then performs Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, a piece renowned for its sweeping lyricism and striking contrasts.
Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone and Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land Suite share a quiet optimism shaped by struggle. Montgomery’s piece layers rich string writing with moments of dissonance, offering a somber vision of healing through unity. Copland’s music, rooted in rural Americana, mirrors that sensibility with open textures and folk-inspired themes that reflect perseverance and dignity. Together, they suggest that even in uncertainty, there is beauty—and a future worth imagining.
Through four distinct compositional voices, We the People traces the contours of a nation still finding its way—one story, one sound at a time.
Program
Bal Masque……………………………………………………….Amy Beach
Violin Concerto, Op. 14………………………………..Samuel Barber
Intermission
Hymn for Everyone…………………………….Jessie Montgomery
The Tender Land Suite………………………………….Aaron Copland
TICKETS
$12 / $27 / $37 / $52
All tickets, excluding children and students, are subject to a $3 processing fee. Must call for free and discounted tickets.
College Students (18+): FREE
Children 17 and under: FREEÂ
Veterans, First Responders, Healthcare Workers, & Educators: 20% off
SNAP & Medicaid Recipients: 20% off
Groups of 10 or more: 20% off
Subscribers: 20% off
Box Office: 330-452-2094
boxoffice@cantonsymphony.org
*Discounts do not apply to Economy section
There will be a pre-concert lecture prior to this concert at 6:30pm in Foundation Hall.Â
Hotel AccomModations
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Zhan Shu, Violin
Zhan Shu joined the first violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 2018 and was appointed Assistant Concertmaster by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst in January 2026.
Before moving to Cleveland, Shu was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Acting Associate Concertmaster for the 2008–09 season. Shu also served as concertmaster of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra and Symphony of Southeast Texas, and as guest concertmaster with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Xi’an Symphony Orchestra, Changsha Symphony Orchestra, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra.
As a soloist, Shu has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra, Indiana University Philharmonic, Texas Music Festival Orchestra, Mannes Orchestra, and Hunan Symphony. He has also participated in the Sarasota Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Sunflower Music Festival, and Pacific Music Festival.
Shu received his early training at the preparatory school attached to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He is a graduate of Mannes College of Music in New York, the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His mentors include Xiao-Zhi Huang, Lucie Robert, Emanuel Borok, Mauricio Fuks, and Alexander Kerr.
In 2021, Shu held an adjunct assistant professorship at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Since fall 2023, he has taught the Orchestra Repertoire for Violin class at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Shu performs on a c. 1874 violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. | LEARN MORE
Francesco Lecce-Chong, Conductor
American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong has established himself as a respected leader in the orchestral world through his acclaimed performances, innovative projects, and passionate advocacy for the arts. He was appointed Music Director of two US orchestras, the Eugene Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony, before he turned 30. With those groups, he successfully launched several groundbreaking projects, commissioning over a dozen major orchestral works, and building innovative community partnerships. Now, in his seventh season leading the Santa Rosa Symphony, he has grown the orchestra’s reputation as one of the most exciting and important regional orchestras in the US with performances at one of the renowned concert halls in the world, the Green Music Center. In the 2024/25 season, Mr. Lecce-Chong takes on the role of Artistic Partner with the Eugene Symphony, a newly created position which allows him to further develop his artistic vision with the orchestra. | LEARN MORE
Composer Spotlight
PRESENTED BY:
Co-Sponsor:
The W Henry Hoover Foundation
This concert is supported by:
The Ada C. & Helen J. Rank Foundation
