The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents a programme of mid-century works by refugee composers, featuring Korngold's Violin Concerto with Simone Lamsma and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, conducted by Ben Glassberg.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra brings British conductor Ben Glassberg to Atlanta Symphony Hall for a program of mid-century works by composers who lived as refugees. The concert runs from Thursday, January 21, through Saturday, January 23, 2027, with performances at 8 PM on Thursday and Saturday.
The program opens with Morton Gould's Spirituals for Orchestra, in which the American composer blended jazz, folk music, and show tunes to set spirituals during the Great Migration. From there, the evening moves to Erich Korngold's Violin Concerto, written in 1946 by the Jewish exile who had spent the war years composing sweeping melodies for Hollywood. Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma takes the solo for that one. The concert closes with Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, which he composed in upstate New York in 1943.
Glassberg is a rising star in the conducting world. He's held leadership roles at the Volksoper Wien and Opéra de Rouen Normandie, served as Associate Guest Conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon, and led the Glyndebourne Tour from 2019 to 2021. He first made a name for himself at 23, when he won the Grand Prix at the 55th Besançon Young Conductors Competition in 2017. Since then, he's recorded award-winning albums for Warner Classics with guitarist Thibaut Garcia and mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa.
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It's a program that holds together around a single theme—composers displaced from their homes—and it brings together three very different sounds: Gould's American spirituals, Korngold's cinematic violin concerto, and Bartók's orchestral showcase. The ASO performs the whole set with Glassberg conducting and Simone Lamsma on violin. Performances are January 21 and 23 at 8 PM at Atlanta Symphony Hall.
