Concerto for Orchestra

MASTERWORKS 3: CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA

Bartók & Brahms

Friday, November 20 & Saturday, November 21, 2026

In this undoubtedly moving program, Grammy Award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey, the current Artist-in-Residence with the Charleston Symphony, collaborates with the orchestra and Concertmaster Bekker for Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. Hungarian composer Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is a riveting work written while in exile in New York during World War II, and a product of creative genius that reflects but does not dwell on the composer’s heart-wrenching homesickness.

Kensho Watanabe, who is conducting the Charleston Symphony for the first time, is a multi-talented conductor who has frequently led highly regarded ensembles, including the Houston Grand Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, and the Opera Theatre St. Louis.

PROGRAM

ARTISTS

Kensho Watanabe, Conductor
Yuriy Bekker, Violin
Zuill Bailey, Cello

NOTEWORTHY

• British composer Anna Clyne wrote of her This Midnight Hour, “Whilst it is not intended to depict a specific narrative, my intention is that it will evoke a visual journey for the listener.”
• Zuill Bailey had a recurring role on HBO’s series Oz, where he played a convicted musician named Eugene Dobbins.
• Yuriy Bekker is also Principal Pops Conductor and Artistic Director of the Charleston Symphony, and has been Concertmaster since 2007.
• Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra premiered in 1944 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who had commissioned the work in tribute to his late wife.