Masterworks Series Masterworks: American Ground

Copland’s Appalachian Spring & American Voices

Christopher Confessore leads the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in a program devoted entirely to American voices. Copland’s _Appalachian Spring_is the cornerstone of the evening — a ballet score that has come to sound like the American landscape itself: open and unhurried, rooted in Shaker melodies. Florence Price’s Dances in the Canebrakesbrings a different American tradition to the stage, drawing on Black folk idioms with elegance and rhythmic vitality. John Adams’ The Chairman Dances offers a wry, minimalist portrait of Nixon-era diplomacy, and Howard Hanson’s Second Symphony — the “Romantic” — closes the concert’s first half, sending the audience to Intermission with an emotional directness that was radical for its time.

Thanks to our Masterworks series sponsor, Health Pros for the ASO.

Plan Your Visit

Conductor Comments is a free benefit to all ticket holders. Come early and hear insights that only the conductor can share. Offered on both Friday and Saturday evenings, from 6:15–6:35, the conductor offers history and context on the arrangements you’ll hear, along with insight into how the program flows together — a wonderful way to deepen your experience before the first note fills the hall.

The door is open when you arrive, and we’re glad to have you join us at any point — open seating, no reservation needed. Volunteers are on hand to help you find your way.

Join us in the Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, found in the upper lobby of the Alys Stephens Center.

Artists

Christopher Confessore, conductor