Concert

Gianandrea Noseda conducts Williams, Copland, Bernstein and Gershwin

National Symphony Orchestra – Portraits of America

Live
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Cast

Jon Kimura Parker — Pianist

Phylicia Rashad — Narrator

National Symphony Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda — Conductor

Program notes

The NSO’s Music Director Designate Gianandrea Noseda is joined by Pianist Jon Kimura Parker, and Emmy Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad in a festive, all-American program of beloved musical works by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, and others. Watch it live from the Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Highlights include Gershwin’s famed Rhapsody in Blue and music from the films JFK and Lincoln. For the performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, orchestra and conductor are joined by Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker, a virtuosic performer described by The New York Times as "insightful [and] energetic".

Portraits of America is a concert program celebrating some of the musical and political icons of United States history. The featured composers are Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, and John Williams—a collection of musical artists who together indelibly changed the fabric of the American musical landscape over the course of the 20th century. Following the program opener of the American national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner, the musical selections—John Williams’ Suites from the movies JFK and Lincoln, Bernstein’s Fanfare for the Inauguration of JFK, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (composed for a concert on the anniversary Lincoln’s birthday in 1924), and Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, narrated by Phylicia Rashad—honor Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, two of America’s most beloved and eulogized presidents.

Stay tuned in for the end of the concert, when David Rubenstein interviews Gianandrea Noseda!

More information: http://www.kennedy-center.org

Photo: © Steve J. Sherman

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of the NSO.
The NSO Music Director Chair is generously endowed by Victoria and Roger Sant.
Support for JFKC: A Centennial Celebration of John F. Kennedy is provided by Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley and The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Details on programed music

A closer look: featured composers

Further listening: featured works

More info