

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony
February 22 – 25, 2024
FABIO LUISI conducts
KAREN GOMYO violin
TINE THING HELSETH trumpet
BRADLEY HUNTER WELCH organ
SOPHIA JANI Flare
XI WANG YEAR 2020: Concerto for Violin, Trumpet, and Orchestra | DSO Commission, World Premiere
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, Organ
Showing off the power and majesty of “the king of instruments,” Bradley Hunter Welch is at the Lay Family Concert Organ where the DSO, led by Fabio Luisi, performs Saint-Saëns’s grand Romantic “Organ Symphony.” The composer told the commissioning body that it “will be terrifying, I warn you.” But do not be afraid; you’ll be safely guided to the blazing C Major chord that sets the last movement in motion.
Also featured on this program is a piece written by local SMU professor and composer Xi Wang, and DSO Composer-in-Residence Sophia Jani. In Xi’s work the unusual instrument pairing of the trumpet and violin in YEAR 2020 reflects the work’s inspiration from the tumultuous and unprecedented world created in the wake of the global pandemic.
NOTE: The DSO will record this weekend’s performances for a future album release.
