The American Spirit
- Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 7 pm
- Fisher Center at Bard, Sosnoff Theater
Program & Artists
Montgomery Hymn for Everyone
Price Violin Concerto No. 1
Still Symphony No. 4, “Autochthonous”
Kellen Gray conductor
Melissa White violin
Tickets
- Starting at $15
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Part of TŌN’s Fisher Center concert series
TŌN welcomes guest conductor Kellen Gray, artistic director of the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra in Indiana, and violinist Melissa White, a first-prize laureate in the Sphinx Competition and a founding member of the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet, for a concert highlighting the music of four celebrated American composers. The soulful Violin Concerto No. 1 by Florence Price dates to 1939, but was never performed in the composer’s lifetime, having only been found in 2009 and premiered in 2018. William Grant Still’s optimistic Fourth Symphony, “Autochthonous”, imagines America as a place of ingenuity and inclusivity. Also on the program is the meditative recent work Hymn for Everyone by Jessie Montgomery, Performance Today’s 2025 Classical Woman of the Year.
Concert Details
Brief remarks by TŌN violinist Shan (Serena) Bai
Jessie Montgomery Hymn for Everyone
12 min
Listen
>Read concert notes by TŌN bassoonist Peter Houdalis
Florence Price Violin Concerto No. 1
Melissa White violin
23 min
Listen
>Read concert notes by TŌN violinist Shan (Serena) Bai
Intermission
20 min
Brief remarks by TŌN clarinetist Craig Swink
William Grant Still Symphony No. 4, “Autochthonous”
26 min
Listen
>Read concert notes by TŌN flutist Youbeen Cho
All timings are approximate. Program and artists subject to change.
Sample the Music
Montgomery Hymn for Everyone
Price Violin Concerto No. 1
Still Symphony No. 4, “Autochthonous”
Photo by Tamara Benavente: Kellen Gray
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