September 26, 2016
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will kick off the 2016-17 season with concerts featuring superstar violinist Hilary Hahn and piano sensation Lang Lang. Both programs will be conducted by Music Director Leonard Slatkin.
On Thursday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, September 30 at 8 p.m., Hilary Hahn joins the DSO for a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The program also includes Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, Gershwin’s Lullaby, and the world premiere of Spanish composer Ferran Cruixent’s Big Data. Much like Cruixent’s Cyborg (given its world premiere by the DSO in 2013), Big Data makes use of exciting and unexpected sonic sources—including recordings of dial tones and busy signals, singing from both orchestra musicians and the audience, and pre-recorded tones sounded by the musicians’ mobile phones while they play their instruments.
On Friday, October 1 at 8 p.m., the legendary pianist Lang Lang returns to Detroit to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The program also includes works by Ron Nelson, Morton Gould, Samuel Barber, and Aaron Copland. Lang Lang is an international sensation, bridging boundaries between his native China and countries across the world with his passionate playing. He has performed for royalty, four American presidents, and quite literally billions of viewers worldwide when he took the stage at the Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.