Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Gershwin and Shostakovich — With Yuja Wang

The London Symphony Orchestra is celebrating the 70th birthday of its principal guest conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, with a program perfectly suited to the musician it honors! It begins with Colin Matthews' 1992 orchestral arrangement of Hidden Variables (an avant-garde work originally composed for chamber ensemble), which MTT - a strong and tireless advocate of contemporary music - commissioned himself. Next, the conductor's frequent musical collaborator, Yuja Wang, pays tribute with a sparkling performance of one of the few piano concertos written by an American composer: Gershwin's Concerto in F Major. Shostakovich's Fifth concludes the concert with an intimate performance that reveals the close relationship between this brilliant conductor and his equally brilliant orchestra.