Lexington Symphony’s Coming to America Season Finale

Features Works by Composers Celebrating the Stories of Immigrants Who Came to America

Saturday, April 26 / 7:30 PM Pre-Concert Conductor’s Talk / 6:30 PM
Cary Memorial Hall, Lexington Tickets on Sale Now
www.LexingtonSymphony.org

Lexington Symphony, under the musical direction of Jonathan McPhee, presents its season finale Coming to America, featuring James Hewitt’s The Battle of Trenton, Fernande Decruck’s Symphonie Orientale, Seán Ó Riada’s Mise Éire and pipa soloist, Cao Yue performing Wu Zuqiang’s, Wang Yanqiao, and Liu Dehai Little Sisters of the Prairie, and Wu Zuqiang’s and Liu Dehai’s Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night.

According to McPhee, the program celebrates many of the stories of immigrants who came to America. “Those stories are represented through the music immigrants brought with them, enriching our nation despite the challenges they faced. While the stories are varied, as was America’s attitude toward immigrants, these stories are important because in the end, all of those who came to America looked for a new beginning and hope for the future, which has been America’s promise,” McPhee added.

McPhee describes Hewitt’s The Battle of Trenton as an exploration of the attitudes, mistakes, and reasons people emigrated to America. “After the famous crossing on McConkey’s Ferry on Christmas Day, George Washington led the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey the next day against the Crown’s German mercenaries, many of whom defected and stayed in America,” said McPhee.

“Composer Fernande Decruck left for the United States after the war ended at the end of 1947 with her youngest son Alain when it became more difficult for her to find performance opportunities in her own country. They spent several months living in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with her daughter Jeannine and son-in-law, Dr. Walter Scott. During this stay, she composed many pieces for organ, including three sonatas, Trois pièces for English horn and organ, and a concerto for Roger Voisin, legendary 1st trumpet at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Decruck’s Symphonie Orientale was her last major composition, and Lexington Symphony’s performance will be the North American Premiere,” said McPhee.

The Symphony welcomes distinguished pipa soloist Cao Yue, who will perform two pieces for Pipa and Orchestra. A professor at Nanjing Normal University, and Director of the Pipa Professional Committee of the Chinese National Orchestra Society, Cao is also a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and the Chinese Pipa Association. Having learned from notable pipa masters such as Liu Dehai, Gan Tao, and Zhou Jingmei, Cao has received multiple gold awards in national competitions.

Cao was the first professor appointed by the Chinese Ministry of Culture to teach Chinese folk music in Europe. She notably presented two solo concerts at the Jiangsu Grand Theatre and has judged various competitions, including the Chinese Instrumental Television Competition by CCTV.

Recently, Cao has organized concerts such as “No Questions East or West” and “Moonlit Strings.” Her international performances include the U.S., Germany, France, and a collaboration with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.

Cao has also published “Pipa Performance and Teaching” and “Practical Pipa Tutorial,” both widely used in education. Her albums, including “Immortal Folk Music” and “Moonlit Strings,” have been released by various labels, and she has also participated in recordings for CCTV’s music channel program “Fenghua Guoyue.”

Cao will be holding a presentation about Chinese Music and Culture to Lexington Public Schools’ Fourth Graders at the Lexington High School on Monday, April 28, 2025.

The program ends with Ó Riada’s Mise Éire, a poem in which Irish poet Pádraig Pearse expressed his love of – and his pride in – Ireland’s culture and heritage. Pearse reflected on the problems faced by his country as well as his hopes and fears about what the future might bring. Pearse was a tireless writer and activist in Ireland’s attempt to achieve independence from the British government. He was one of the key members of the Easter Rising in 1916 and his passion for Irish independence cost him his life when he was executed by the British.

Tickets for Lexington Symphony’s Coming to America on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 7:30pm at Lexington’s Cary Hall, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue, are $35-$75, on sale now at www.LexingtonSymphony.org or by calling 781-523-9009. Group and student discounts are available.
Lexington Symphony would like to thank our generous donors, Kip Connor & Linh Vong, and our soloist sponsor, Bin Wu & Family, in recognition of the Chinese American Association of Lexington, for underwriting Coming to America, and our season media partners, GBH, CRB Classical 99.5 Radio Boston, LexMedia, and the Lexington Times. Lexington Symphony is supported by funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The Symphony is collaborating with the Lex250 Commission to mark the Semiquincentennial celebration of the Battle of Lexington hosted by the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts. The 2024-2025 season is the first of two seasons with programs designed to tie into the historical themes of the American Revolutionary War as identified by the Lex250 committee and its lecture series. Lexington Symphony is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this season.

Upcoming programs include Lex250 historical themes from Hewitt, Decruck, and Ó Riada, and pipa soloist Cao Yue performing Wu, Wang and Liu’s magnificent Little Sisters of the Prairie and Wu and Liu’s Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night in collaboration with the Chinese American Association of Lexington.