Classical Arizona PBS celebrates The Phoenix Symphony and its new Music Director-designate Paolo Bortolameolli with a broadcast season opener of classical dynamos, beginning on Wednesday, October 7 at 7pm.
The thrilling and energetic program from Fall 2025, opening with a rousing crowd pleaser – Hector Berlioz’s 1844 ROMAN CARNIVAL OVERTURE. The marquee piece of the evening is Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony #9 in e minor, subtitled FROM THE NEW WORLD. The Czech composer wrote his New World Symphony while working as Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895, and it was premiered at Carnegie Hall in NYC in 1893.
Dvorak had spent a significant amount of time in the United States, where he heard a melting pot of music: Native American music, folk music, African American songs and spirituals, and more. He expressed a strong opinion that the true “American Sound” that American composers should incorporate and emulate in their work were these musical ideas. He urged, “They are the songs of America and your composers must turn to them.” For his Symphony #9, Dvorak took his own advice, and composed an original melody that is strongly reminiscent of a spiritual. It was so convincing that many people assumed it was an authentic spiritual, and years later one of his students turned the melody into a spiritual-like song about peace, rest, and the familiar comfort of home, called GOIN’ HOME.
Also featured, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5 in E♭ major, THE EMPEROR. Pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner returns for his second visit as guest soloist with The Phoenix Symphony. The one-time child prodigy started piano lessons at age 2, and at age 6, started performing with orchestras. His performance in Phoenix displayed his formidable virtuosity and sensitive artistry, from Beethoven’s dynamic Concerto to some charming and intimate encores.
