Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy & Sibelius’s Second Symphony
October 3, 2025
7:30 pm
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Albert Cano Smit, piano
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Michael Abels: Amplify
Franz Schubert: Hunters’ Chorus from Rosamunde
Ludwig van Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Featuring pianist Albert Cano Smit, 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.
A musician who has been praised as “a moving young poet” (Le Devoir of Montreal), Spanish/Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit enjoys a growing international career on the orchestral, recital, and chamber music stages. Noted for his captivating performances, storytelling quality and nuanced musicality, the First Prize winner of the 2019 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions has appeared as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, Montréal Symphony, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Orchestra of St Luke’s, Barcelona Symphony, Catalonia National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata.
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.
*Commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jader Bignamini, Music Director; Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Eric Jacobsen, Music Director; Colorado Music Festival, Peter Oundjian, Music Director; and the Sarasota Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero, Music Director.
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