Innovation meets tradition in a concert featuring two world premieres when the San Luis Obispo Symphony presents its second concert of the 2025-26 season on Saturday, November 8 at the Performing Arts Center SLO.
California Dreamin’ celebrates bold new voices of American music alongside the timeless beauty of the classics.
A new symphonic work by local composer Craig H. Russell, Symphony No. 2 “Four American Scenes,” is inspired by the noble spirit of Russell’s parents and the vastness of the American landscape.
Also premiering is a moving new work by Grover Beach composer Stefan Podell, “We Hold Together,” commissioned by Marcelle Kardush in support of the Symphony.
The program also features the return of Giora Schmidt to San Luis Obispo to perform Korngold’s radiant “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major,” a lush and cinematic piece with themes from the composer’s Hollywood film repertoire.
“Fanfare et Fantaisie,” a genre-defying fusion of jazz and classical styles by the trailblazing Los Angeles composer and Grammy-nominated artist Patrice Rushen completes the evening’s program.