Bernstein and Robertson

American Reflections

📍 This event takes place at Powell Hall

🕒 2 hours (including intermission)

Friday, Mar 6, 2026, 10:30am Get Tickets Saturday, Mar 7, 2026, 7:30pm Get Tickets

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Program

David Robertson, conductor
Orli Shaham, piano

Steven Mackey Turn the Key
David Robertson Light Forming, A Piano Concerto (First SLSO performances)
Sarah Kirkland Snider Something for the Dark (First SLSO performances)
Leonard Bernstein “The Age of Anxiety,” Symphony No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra
David Robertson “…A Joyful Noise…” (First SLSO performances)

About this Concert

David Robertson, SLSO Music Director from 2005 to 2018, returns to conduct a compelling program exploring evolution and change through works by four American musical luminaries. Robertson’s own piano concerto, written for and performed by Orli Shaham, explores themes of language and love. Steven Mackey’s Turn the Key expresses the joys of transformation, Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Something for the Dark is a meditation on renewal, and Leonard Bernstein’s Second Symphony features a solo piano voice representing the composer’s own introspective journey.

- When Leonard Bernstein read The Age of Anxiety by English poet W.H. Auden, he connected so deeply with Auden’s text that he knew immediately he would create a musical response to it.
- Steven Mackey’s Turn the Key was commissioned to celebrate the opening of a new performance hall in Miami. “The piece,” he writes in his program notes, “grew from a simple rhythm that I found myself employing to knock on doors.”
- A true multi-faceted artist, pianist Orli Shaham is a writer, educator, and broadcaster. Among her many roles, she is currently a co-host and creative for NPR’s radio program, From the Top.
- David Robertson was one of the longest-serving Music Directors of the SLSO. During his 13-year tenure, he solidified the SLSO’s standing as one of the nation’s most enduring and innovative orchestras. In collaboration with the SLSO, Robertson was honored with a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for a recording of John Adams’ City Noir.

Artists

Meet the people that make the music.

David Robertson

Conductor

Orli Shaham

Piano

Musicians of the SLSO

Special Thanks

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts
Coffee Concert Series Supported by EverTrue
Friday morning complimentary refreshments courtesy of Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co. and Eddie’s Southtown Donuts