The St. Louis Symphony and their music director Stéphane Denève present a wonderful program featuring two of the most accomplished American composers in history: Leonard Bernstein with his Serenade and John Williams with his Concerto for violin and orchestra, both performed by star James Ehnes, one of the most exceptional North American violinists. John Williams himself was present at the recording of his violin concerto, working together with the St. Louis Symphony, Denève, and Ehnes.

Cellist Camille Thomas’ program of beautiful cello arrangements invites us to find hope amid uncertainty, to see light in the darkness. From Purcell’s grief-stricken “When I Am Laid in Earth” to Bruch’s yearning “Kol Nidrei” and Dvořák’s nostalgic “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” Thomas finds beauty deep within pain. But in Donizetti, she celebrates the power of love, in Wagner gentleness, and in Mozart steadfastness. Fazil Say’s 2017 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, “Never Give Up”, a musical response to the terrorist attacks in Paris and Istanbul, is searing and often upsetting, cello flowing like tears, orchestra twisted, demented. Birds bring peace, at last, to a modern masterpiece that confronts anguish and distress with strength and optimism.