NOI Philharmonic: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue

David Alan Miller, multi-Grammy Award-winning conductor and music director of the Albany Symphony, leads the NOI Philharmonic on stage with Kevin Cole, the foremost interpreter of George Gershwin’s music, on piano. The program begins with Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, a tone poem inspired by a visit to Havana, imbibed with Cuban rhythms and elements of Cuban dance. Next is Gershwin’s cherished masterpiece, Rhapsody in Blue, which deftly assimilates American and European traditions while challenging the divisions between classical and popular music. Following up with more Gershwin, his Second Rhapsody carries similar passion and intensity to Rhapsody in Blue, kindled from the story of a young Russian pianist who emigrates to Manhattan. Steven Stucky’s orchestral fantasy Dreamwaltzes sets fragments of Viennese waltz music of Brahms and Strauss in a strikingly modern orchestral tone. Joan Tower’s 1920/2019 concludes the program, commemorating the two most historically significant years for the advancement of women in society.