Rhapsody in Blue Celebrates 100

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue with legendary jazz pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio alongside the orchestra. The program continues with one of the orchestra’s signature pieces, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, written for and premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1940 and 1941.

Ticketing Info

Tickets go on sale February 22.

SPAC Member presale begins on February 9.

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Program

*Indicates SPAC Premiere

David Robertson | conductor 
Marcus Roberts Trio

David Robertson

David Robertson – conductor, artist, composer, thinker, American musical visionary – occupies the most prominent podiums in opera, orchestral, and new music.  He is a champion of contemporary composers, and an ingenious and adventurous programmer. Robertson has served in numerous artistic leadership positions, such as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a transformative 13-year tenure as Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, with the Orchestre National de Lyon, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and, as protégé of Pierre Boulez, the Ensemble InterContemporain.  He appears with the world’s great orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and many major ensembles and festivals on five continents.  In 2023, he made his first return to Sydney, and will begin a three-year tenure as the inaugural Creative Partner of the Utah Symphony and Opera.  Since his 1996 Metropolitan Opera debut, Robertson has conducted a breathtaking range of Met projects, including the 2019-20 season opening premiere production of Porgy and Bess, for which he shared a Grammy Award, Best Opera Recording, in March 2021.  In 2022, he conducted the Met Opera revival of the production, in addition to making his Rome Opera debut conducting Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová.  Robertson is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, and is the recipient of numerous artistic awards.  He serves on the Tianjin Juilliard Advisory Council, complementing his role as Director of Conducting Studies, Distinguished Visiting Faculty of The Juilliard School, New York.  In the 2023-24 season, he will conduct the Seattle Symphony, Royal Danish Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester-Berlin, the Minnesota Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, among others.

Marcus Roberts Trio

Marcus Roberts is widely known as one of the preeminent American jazz pianists of his generation. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards and competitions, including the 1982 Young Artist’s Award at the National Association of Jazz Educators’ conference and the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement in 1998. During the first fifteen years of his career, he completed over thirty recordings; and all, whether solo piano, with trio, big band, or symphony orchestra, have been critically acclaimed. His 1996 recording, Portraits in Blue, was the first to showcase the art of jazz improvisation within a traditional classical setting, and he continues to pursue new ways to bring the sounds of jazz and classical music together.