BWO will bring beloved music of stage and screen to Bernstein Festival

BWO conductor Neal Hampton

On Thursday, April 29, the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra (BWO) will perform an 8 p.m. concert in Slosberg Music Center honoring Leonard Bernstein, the founder of the Festival of the Creative Arts, as well as Aaron Copland, a member of the Brandeis music faculty in the early 1950s.

The BWO, under the direction of Neal Hampton, is known for taking on challenging orchestral works with popular appeal. Last year’s Festival of the Arts performance was the majestic, controversial Carmina Burana. This year, audiences will enjoy music composed for the theater and for the cinema. The Bernstein work is from his famous operetta “Candide” (1956). Copland’s contribution is a suite written for the film adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” (1939), incorporating themes of the American folk music that Copland so loved. Rimski-Korsakov’s dazzling Scheherezade (1888) and Alan Menken’s score for the 1992 Disney film “Aladdin” represent enchanting orchestral music that spans a century.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Click here for the complete Leonard Bernsten Festival of the Creative Arts schedule. 

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