A New World Odyssey: Adams, Adès, Dvořák by Adams, Adès, Dvořák, -tól (2024/2024), Karmester Elena Schwarz, Jacobs Music Center, San Diego, United States

Elena Schwarz takes the podium to lead the Symphony in a program of modern masterworks by John Adams and Thomas Adès and one of Western classical music’s most beloved and recognizable works: Dvořák's Symphony No. 9. Adams composed The Chairman Dances while working on his opera Nixon in China inspired by an image of Mao Tse-Tung dancing the foxtrot. A specialist in the works of living composers, Leila Josefowicz joins the Symphony for Adès’ modern masterpiece Concentric Paths, co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic by the composer who also has many ties to – and a strong history with – California. Written while he was living in the United States, Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 drew inspiration from African-American spirituals introduced to him by his then-student, the great pioneer of American music, composer Harry T. Burleigh.