Opening Night: America 250
Barber Violin Concerto + Dvořák Symphony No. 9
September 26, 2026
7:30 PM | Wilson Center @ CFCC
Peter Askim, Conductor
Stephan Jackiw, Violin
Carlos Simon: Festive Fanfare and Overture
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World"
CONCERT SPONSORED BY:
GUEST ARTIST
Stephan Jackiw, Violin
"Brilliantly skillful and selflessly musical.”
The Financial Times
Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as a soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
In the 2025–26 season, Stefan Jackiw returns to the Pittsburgh Symphony for Korngold's Concerto, the Baltimore Symphony for Beethoven's Triple Concerto alongside Inon Barnatan and Hayoung Choi, conducted by Jonathan Heyward, and the Indianapolis Symphony for Berg's Violin Concerto. He launches the Austin Symphony’s season with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, which he also performs later with the Vancouver Symphony. Jackiw joins the Seoul Philharmonic and Mei-Ann Chen for Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. In winter 2026, he opens the Laguna Beach Music Festival with three consecutive concerts featuring a varied repertoire, including Janáček’s Kreutzer Sonata. He also performs Dvořák’s Concerto with the Kansas City Symphony.
Jackiw is set to make his debut at London’s iconic Southbank Centre in a highly anticipated special trio project with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan. He continues touring with Junction Trio with engagements at Chamber Music Sedona, Sanford-Hill Piano Series, Noe Music, Caramoor, Jacksonville Symphony, and additional dates to be announced. As a recitalist, he returns to Montclair State University, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, Harvard University, Friends of Music Sleepy Hollow, and The Rockefeller University, with additional performances to be announced.
Jackiw's 2024-25 season highlights include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Suwon Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic and the Jacksonville Symphony. He continued touring with Junction Trio, returning to the 92NY stage with a program including the world premiere of a new work by John Zorn and performing at Rockefeller University.
Jackiw opened his 2023-24 season returning to the New York Philharmonic to perform the Barber Concerto with Jaap van Zweden. His season also included a quadruple World Premiere of new works at Roulette, performances with the Taiwan Philharmonic, China National Symphony, and the Junction Trio's highly praised debut at Carnegie Hall.
Jackiw tours frequently with his musical partners, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell, as part of the Junction Trio. In 2021, Jackiw performed a new Violin concerto, written for him by Conrad Tao and premiered by the Atlanta Symphony and Baltimore Symphony. He also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he recorded the complete Ives Violin Sonatas on Nonesuch Records. The album was universally lauded by critics, with The New Yorker's Alex Ross naming Jackiw's performance "a new standard." In 2019, he recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields. He has also premiered David Fulmer’s concerto Jauchzende Bögen with Matthias Pintscher and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at the Heidelberger Frühling.
Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and Ukrainian descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made by Domenico Montagnana “ex. Rossi” c. 1730, generously loaned by a private foundation. He lives in New York City.
COMPOSERS
Carlos Simon
“My dad, he always gets on me. He wants me to be a preacher, but I always tell him, ‘Music is my pulpit. That’s where I preach,’” Carlos Simon reflected for The Washington Post. Having grown up in Atlanta, with a long lineage of preachers and connections to gospel music to inspire him, GRAMMY-nominated Simon proves that a well-composed song can indeed be a sermon. His music ranges from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism.
Simon is the current Composer-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and frequently writes for the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera. Simon also holds the position of inaugural Composer Chair of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the first in the institution’s 143-year history.
In the 2024/25 season, Simon will have premiere performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra for the Last Night of the Proms (in his BBC Proms commissioning debut), Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Carnegie Hall for the National Youth Orchestra of the USA. The season also features the premiere of Simon’s Gospel Mass with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic, a work reimagining the traditional mass with gospel soloists and choir, with visual creations from Melina Matsoukas (Beyoncé Formation, Queen and Slim).
This follows previous commissions from the likes of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera (in collaboration with Mo Willems), New York Philharmonic and Bravo! Vail, Minnesota Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
As well as his composition work, Simon frequently curates concert programmes, which often highlight his own music as well as that of close collaborators. Curation concerts have recently been programmed by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Boston Chamber Players, Tanglewood Festival for Contemporary Music, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Simon also curated and arranged Coltrane: Legacy for Orchestra, a new project co-commissioned by TO Live (for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra) and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, in partnership with the Coltrane Estate.
August 2024 saw the release of Simon's first full-length orchestral album, Four Symphonic Works, comprised of live concert recordings by the National Symphony Orchestra from the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Simon also composed the original soundtrack for the PBS documentary Shame of Chicago: Shame of the Nation, which was released as a digital album in April 2024.
In September 2023, Simon released two albums on Decca. Together is a compilation of solo and chamber compositions and arrangements featuring Simon and guests such as J’Nai Bridges, Randall Goosby, Seth Parker Woods and Will Liverman. The work draws on Carlos’ personal experience as an artist to highlight the importance of heritage and identity, and the power of collaborative music-making.
Simon also released the live premiere recording of brea(d)th, a landmark work commissioned by Minnesota Orchestra and written in collaboration with Marc Bamuthi Joseph, conducted by Jonathan Taylor Rush. “Arguably the most important commission of Simon’s career so far” (New York Times), brea(d)th was written following George Floyd’s murder as a direct response to America’s unfulfilled promises and history of systemic oppression against Black Americans.
Simon was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for his previous album, Requiem for the Enslaved. The requiem is a multi-genre musical tribute to commemorate the stories of the 272 enslaved men, women, and children sold in 1838 by Georgetown University, released by Decca in June 2022. This work sees Simon infuse his original compositions with African American spirituals and familiar Catholic liturgical melodies, performed by Hub New Music Ensemble, Marco Pavé, and MK Zulu.
Acting as music director and keyboardist for GRAMMY Award winner Jennifer Holliday, Simon has performed with Boston Pops, Jackson Symphony, and St. Louis Symphony. He has also toured internationally with soul GRAMMY-nominated artist Angie Stone and performed throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Simon earned his doctorate degree at the University of Michigan, where he studied with Michael Daugherty and Evan Chambers. He has also received degrees from Georgia State University and Morehouse College. He is an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Music Sinfonia Fraternity and a member of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Society of Composers International, and Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society. He has served as a member of the music faculty at Spelman College and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and now serves as Associate Professor at Georgetown University. Simon was also a recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization to recognize extraordinary classical Black and Latinx musicians, and was named a Sundance/Time Warner Composer Fellow for his work for film and moving image.
Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber (1910–1981) was an American composer and one of the most important voices in 20th-century classical music. Known for his lyrical style and emotional depth, his work reflects a continuation of Romantic traditions at a time when many composers were turning toward more experimental approaches.
Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Barber showed remarkable musical talent at an early age, studying piano, voice, and composition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He quickly gained recognition, and his works were performed by leading orchestras and musicians both in the United States and abroad.
Barber’s music is widely admired for its expressive melodies and rich harmonies. His most famous piece, Adagio for Strings (1936), remains one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the orchestral repertoire. Other notable compositions include his Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning opera Vanessa.
Throughout his career, Barber maintained a distinctive voice that balanced tradition and modernity. His ability to communicate deep emotion through music has secured his place as one of America’s most enduring and widely performed composers.
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was a Czech composer and one of the first Bohemian musicians to achieve worldwide recognition. A leading figure of the Romantic era, he is celebrated for blending traditional Czech folk elements with classical forms, creating music that is both richly melodic and deeply expressive.
Born in the village of Nelahozeves, Dvořák showed musical talent early, studying violin and later training in Prague. His career gained momentum with the support of composer Johannes Brahms, and by the late 19th century his works were performed across Europe.
From 1892 to 1895, Dvořák served as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, where he composed his most famous work, Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” Inspired in part by American musical traditions, the piece remains a cornerstone of the orchestral repertoire.
Dvořák was a prolific composer, writing nine symphonies, concertos, chamber music, operas, and choral works. His music is widely admired for its warmth, lyricism, and ability to elevate folk traditions into sophisticated concert works, leaving a lasting impact on classical music worldwide.
