Rhapsody in Blue

A Stateside soundrack

Taking us across the Atlantic in this all-American extravaganza, South Carolina native Kellen Gray celebrates the diversity of American culture and its influence on classical music. Bernstein’s genre-defying operetta Candide is full of wit and emotion while Short Symphony by Copland fizzes with vibrant Mexican folk themes. Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone is full of lush, chorale-like textures, and there’s a dynamic mix of classical and African American traditions in the Symphony No.4 by Harlem Renaissance icon William Grant Still.