January 8, 2024
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin reunite for a three-concert festival exploring the intersection of jazz and classical music. Each program ends with a work by George Gershwin—Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, An American in Paris, and Rhapsody in Blue. The orchestra is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their acclaimed recordings of Gershwin’s orchestral works on Vox Records, which have recently been re-released by Naxos. Pianist Jeffrey Siegel, the soloist on the 1974 recordings under Slatkin’s baton, will perform on the concert featuring Rhapsody in Blue on January 21. Other festival highlights include the world premiere of Jeff Beal’s violin concerto, Body in Motion, with soloist Kelly Hall-Tompkins on January 12 and Stravinsky’ Ebony Concerto with clarinetist Scott Andrews on January 13.