Conductor Xian Zhang and saxophonist Steven Banks join the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra for an invigorating program that spans centuries. The evening opens with Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s captivating Primal Message composed in 2020, for string orchestra, harp, and percussion, as an ode to sharing and communication inspired by the Arecibo message. The first saxophonist to ever appear with the orchestra, the charismatic Banks will showcase the vast capabilities of this instrument with Glazunov’s stunning Saxophone Concerto and Ibert’s notoriously difficult Concertino da camera, both composed in the 1930s. The program concludes with Beethoven’s delightful Fourth Symphony. 

Conductor: Xian Zhang
Soloist: Steven Banks, saxophone