For the United States of America’s 250th anniversary, the American Symphony Orchestra celebrates the forging of an American musical identity in the 19th century with a diverse program of seldom performed scores. The concert’s centerpiece is George Bristow’s massive “Niagara Symphony” in its first performance since the work’s world premiere. The program begins with two scores of joyful, exuberant celebration, each one rhythmically propulsive and highly entertaining: the Festival Overture on the American National Air by Dudley Buck and Richard Wagner’s American Centennial March, which he wrote for the opening of the Declaration of Independence’s centennial celebration in 1876 in Philadelphia. Featured on the program are three spirituals—“Go Down, Moses,” “Behold that Star,” and “Swing Low, Swing Chariot”—arranged and orchestrated by innovative composer Harry Burleigh, America’s first prominent Black composer, whose momentous legacy is honored here for his important influence and major contributions to American concert music and the history of American art song.

Anna appears as the soprano soloist in George Bristow’s Niagara Symphony with the Bard Festival Chorale onstage at Carnegie Hall for this one-night-only performance.