Yannick Leads Mahler

Echoes of Legacy in Symphony and Song.
Join Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Grammy award winner Yannick Nézet-Séguin for an evening of powerful musical storytelling. The program features William L. Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, a groundbreaking 1934 masterpiece that blends African American spirituals with classical symphonic traditions. Premiered by Leopold Stokowski and The Philadelphia Orchestra, the work is celebrated for its stirring melodies and rhythmic vitality.
Also featured is the sweeping drama of Richard Wagner’s Rienzi Overture, led by Yoann Combémorel, Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow and orchestral songs from Gustav Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn), performed with rising stars from Curtis Opera Theatre. Drawing from 19th-century German folk poetry, Mahler’s settings transform simple tales into vivid musical portraits—by turns whimsical, poignant, and profound. These evocative songs capture the Romantic spirit in full force, offering a compelling journey through love, loss, and the fantastical.