Cornell University Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony present spring concerts, other musicians in university’s spring lineup

Two Cornell Department of Music ensembles perform their first spring concerts on March 1 and 2, each featuring a winner of the Cornell Concerto Competition. On Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Bailey Hall, the Cornell Wind Symphony, conducted by James Spinazzola, presents Percy Grainger’s masterful In a Nutshell suite; a new arrangement of Wynton Marsalis’s Herald, Holler, and Hallelujah!, and the Finale of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Concerto competition winner Abigail Black ‘26 performs the first movement of Lowell Liebermann’s Piccolo Concerto. Black, from Victor, NY, is majoring in hotel administration and minoring in music and history, holding leadership roles in Hotel School clubs and serving on the Dean’s Student Advisory Board. She is principal flute in the Cornell Symphony Orchestra and was co-tour manager for their recent Boston tour. 

Then on Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall, embark on a musical journey through the cosmos with the Cornell Symphony Orchestra! This year’s Young Person’s Concert, inspired by the wonders of space, features a collaboration with the Carl Sagan Institute and the world premiere of Ex Terra, Ad Astra, a thrilling new work by Cornell alum Cheryl Engelhardt commissioned especially for this concert. The program also includes Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), selections from Holst’s The Planets, and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy featuring Dean Zhang ‘25, this year’s concerto competition winner in the Symphony Orchestra category. Zhang, from Newton, MA, is a triple major in biological sciences, computer science, and music. He serves as the concertmaster of the Cornell Symphony Orchestra and has won the Ellen Gussman Adelson Prize for excellence in musical performance. Along with music, Zhang also conducts computational genomics research, volunteers in the local community, and aspires to bridge his passions for music and medicine to positively impact others. Don’t miss the instrumental petting zoo before the concert at 2:30 p.m.—it’s fun for the whole family! 

Additional concerts Feb. 28-March 6 include:

Friday, February 28
Pianist Jack Yarbrough gives the New York premiere of Marti Epstein’s new concert length piano solo For Jack. Written specifically with the pianist’s touch in mind, For Jack is an expansive exploration of the sound and resonance behind the piano. 
7:30 p.m.
Barnes Hall 

Thursday, March 6
Midday Music in Lincoln: “Human and Machine,” featuring works by Cornell faculty Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, performed by guest percussionist Aiyun Huang, followed by a talk with the composer. An expert in percussion theater, Huang is currently Associate Professor and Head of Percussion at the University of Toronto. She is committed to creating a vibrant new music community for the next generation.
12:30 p.m.
Lincoln Hall B20  

Thursday, March 6
Brian V. Sengdala, baritone, and Ariel Mo, piano, present a recital, “Whither the wanderer’s call? Wherefore their journey?” Consider these questions through the telling of a vagabond’s romantic tale of loves and dreams with two song cycles: Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis Op. 24, with text by Heinrich Heine, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel, with text by Robert Louis Stevenson. 
7:30 p.m.
Sage Chapel