Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Alex Beyer, piano
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Michael Abels: Amplify
Franz Schubert: Hunting Song from Rosamunde
Ludwig van Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Featuring pianist and Navy pilot Alex Beyer, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy is an uplifting and familiar predecessor, in both melody and message, to his Ode to Joy, uniting virtuosic piano writing with chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra. Sibelius’s heroic Second Symphony has been described as a moving depiction of Finland’s struggle for independence from Russia at the start of the 20th century.
Thomas Wilkins is an internationally renowned conductor and Norfolk native who was named the Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s first-ever Principal Guest Conductor in 2021. He is Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; the Boston Symphony’s Artistic Advisor, Education and Community Engagement; and holds Indiana University’s Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting.
Alex Beyer is an acclaimed pianist and Connecticut native who now lives in Norfolk, Virginia. With degrees from Harvard University and the New England Conservatory of Music, Alex was Bronze Medalist at the 2016 Queen Elisabeth Competition and, since 2018, has been enlisted in the Navy, now a Lieutenant and pilot of the E-2 Hawkeye, an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft.
The 25/26 season marks the 36th anniversary of the Virginia Symphony Chorus, and its twenty-ninth under the direction of Chorusmaster Robert Shoup. In addition to regular appearances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the chorus has performed to sold-out houses as far afield as Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Salzburg and closer to home at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Michael Abels is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Emmy- and GRAMMY®-nominated American composer best known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films GET OUT, US, and NOPE. He has created works for the Kronos Quartet, Hilary Hahn, and LA Opera, and had works performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and many others.
