Program

Saturday, April 26, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College

Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and Conductor

Cameron Renshaw, cello

Help us choose the opening piece for this concert!

The selection process for our "Audience Choice" piece is coming soon.  You can vote to program your favorite music on the April 26, 2025 concert.  The five finalist choices are below, with a brief description and YouTube listening link for each piece.  Voting will be open from September 14, 2024 to November 15, 2024.  More information coming soon!

Jean Sibelius
Finlandia, Op. 26

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote this well-known tone poem in 1899 when his country was under the strong control of Czarist Russia.  This piece, expressing the people’s desire for independence, moves from a stormy struggle to a triumphant hymn of victory, with the beloved tune that has become Finland’s unofficial national anthem.

Click this link to watch a video of: GMJO: Jean Sibelius - Finlandia op. 26

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
The Sea Hawk: Overture

Korngold was a rising star in Vienna when he fled the Nazis in the 1930s and settled in southern California.  He quickly became one of Hollywood’s most important composers.  His music for the 1940 film, The Sea Hawk, is full of rich colors and melodies and energy–a fitting addition to the swashbuckling tale of adventure.

Click this link to watch a video of: Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Sea Hawk - Jeffrey Schindler

Ludwig van Beethoven
Egmont: Overture

Beethoven’s overture, written in 1809-10, also expresses a desire for freedom from oppression.   Set in the sixteenth century, under Spanish oppression, Beethoven used this piece to express his opposition to Napoleonic rule.  It begins in weighty darkness and tragic melodies before gaining urgency and ending in triumph.

Click this link to watch a video of: Beethoven: Overture Egmont - Radio Filharmonisch Orkest led by Karina Canellakis - Live Concert HD

Arturo Márquez
Danzón No. 2

Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2 is one of the most frequently performed Latin American pieces performed today.  It is based on the Cuban danzón.  Márquez writes, ““Danzón 2 … endeavors to get as close as possible to the dance, to its nostalgic melodies, to its wild rhythms, and although it violates its intimacy, its form and its harmonic language, it is a very personal way of paying my respects and expressing my emotions towards truly popular music.”

Click this link to watch a video of: Gustavo Dudamel - Márquez: Danzón No. 2 (Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, BBC Proms)

Antonín Dvořák
Carnival Overture, Op. 92

Dvořák wrote his Carnival Overture in 1891.  It was the second of a three-overture cycle, “Nature, Life, Love.”  In this piece he portrays life as a carnival, full of people, vendors, animals, and even “a pair of straying lovers.”  The music is exciting, colorful, and full of joy.

Click this link to watch a video of: Dvořák - Overture Carnival (Last Night of the Proms 2012)

Kol Nidre
Max Bruch (1838-1920)

Cameron Renshaw, cello

Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Largo - Allegro moderato
Allegro molto
Adagio
Allegro vivace

Sergei Rachmaninoff's grand Second Symphony is the centerpiece of the concert on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College. Johannes Müller Stosch, will conduct the final concert of the 24-25 season.  A young cellist, Cameron Renshaw, will perform Max Bruch's emotional Kol Nidre.  The concert will open with a piece chosen by the HSO audience.  Look for ways to vote in Fall, 2024!

Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.

Learn more about the music…

We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks!  Details below:

Classical Chats at Freedom Village:  These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert.  (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)

Pre-Concert Talks:  These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the "Pre-Concert Talk" Tab.  

New to the Symphony?  Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…

Parking Map at the Miller Center

Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking.  The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm