Music of the Natural World
Brahms Symphony No. 2
March 13, 2027
7:30 PM | Wilson Center @ CFCC
Peter Askim, Conductor
George Frideric Handel: Selections from Water Music
Barbara Gallagher: Suite from The Flowers
Ryan Lindveit: Desire Lines
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73
COMPOSERS
Barbara Gallagher
Barbara Gallagher's compositions and arrangements have been performed throughout the USA and internationally, and are regularly broadcast on radio stations including Pandora, Accuradio, EWTN radio, Lutheran Public Radio, and Celticradio.net. Orchestral performances include Florence (SC) Symphony, Knox-Galesburg Symphony, Wilmington Symphony, Tallis Chamber Orchestra, Duke String School, San Domenico Virtuoso Players, and Cape Fear Community College orchestra. She composed the theme music for WBPL's "Carolina Catholic" radio show, is featured on Digital Media Interactive New Age Piano App, and is published by Hal Leonard Corp., Lassus Publications, and GIA, Inc. A recipient of numerous awards, grants, and commissions, she holds degrees from The Juilliard School, having studied with Vincent Persichetti, and UNC School of the Arts, studying with Robert Ward and Sherwood Shaffer. As a hearing-impaired musician, she advocates for greater accessibility to music and speech for those with hearing loss. She currently lives in Wilmington, NC, where she composes, performs, plays church music, teaches, and produces concerts.
Ryan Lindveit
Ryan Lindveit (lind-vite) is a composer who takes inspiration from nature, art, science, technology, and personal experience in order to craft colorful and emotionally vivid musical journeys. His catalog includes works for orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber ensembles, soloists, voice, electronics, and visual media, and Lindveit enjoys collaborating with many different types of musicians, from young students to established professionals.
His works have been commissioned and performed by several distinguished ensembles and musicians including the Minnesota Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Akropolis Reed Quintet, “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, the U.S. Navy Concert Band, the New York Youth Symphony, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, and the wind ensembles at dozens of universities across the country. Ryan also composed the score for the four-part, Sam Elliott-narrated docuseries Honor Guard released on Amazon Prime.
Lindveit is a recipient of the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, BMI Student Composer Award and various honors from the National Band Association, Symphony in C, Tribeca New Music, and the Texas Music Educators Association, among others. His works have appeared at many festivals and conferences including the Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, College Band Directors National Association Conferences (national and regional), Mizzou International Composers Festival, American Composers Orchestra Earshot New Music Readings, Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Red Note New Music Festival, the International Young Composers Meeting (Apeldoorn, NL), Singapore International Band Festival, Penn State International New Music Festival, and Sacramento State Festival of New American Music. Lindveit also won both the New Music for Orchestra and New Music for Wind Ensemble competitions at the University of Southern California.
A committed educator, he has taught composition, music theory, orchestration, film music, and music technology privately and at the collegiate level. He currently serves on the faculty of the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he received the 2025 Outstanding Faculty Creative/Scholarly Achievement Award. Lindveit is grateful for his music teachers in the public school system in Texas and to his mentors at the University of Southern California (BM), Yale University (MM, MMA), and the University of Michigan (DMA). Additionally, he earned the Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy from the University of Michigan. At USC, he was selected as Salutatorian for the class of 2016 and named an Outstanding Graduate from the Thornton School of Music. His past teachers include Aaron Jay Kernis, Michael Daugherty, Frank Ticheli, Andrew Norman, Christopher Theofanidis, David Lang, Ted Hearne, Martin Bresnick, Bright Sheng, and Donald Crockett.
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was a German-born British composer and one of the most important figures of the Baroque era. Renowned for his dramatic and expressive music, he is best known for his operas, oratorios, and ceremonial works that have remained central to the choral and orchestral repertoire.
Born in Halle, Germany, Handel showed early musical talent and later worked in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London, where he spent most of his career. There, he achieved great success composing Italian operas before turning to English oratorio, a genre in which he made his most lasting impact.
Handel’s most famous work, Messiah (1741), includes the iconic “Hallelujah” Chorus and remains one of the most frequently performed choral works in the world. Other notable compositions include Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, which showcase his skill in writing grand, celebratory music.
Celebrated for his melodic gift and dramatic power, Handel’s music continues to captivate audiences, securing his legacy as one of history’s greatest composers.
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic era, widely regarded as one of the greatest masters of symphonic and chamber music. Though a Romantic composer, he was deeply influenced by the Classical tradition, drawing inspiration from composers such as Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven while developing a richly expressive and structurally refined style.
Born in Hamburg, Brahms showed early musical talent as a pianist and composer. His career gained significant momentum after meeting composer Robert Schumann, who recognized his genius and helped bring him to public attention. Brahms later settled in Vienna, where he spent much of his professional life.
Brahms composed in many genres, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music, piano works, choral music, and more than 200 songs. His most notable works include four symphonies, the German Requiem, and the popular Hungarian Dances.
Celebrated for his craftsmanship, lyrical depth, and balance between tradition and innovation, Brahms remains a central figure in the classical repertoire, often grouped with Bach and Beethoven as one of the “three great B’s” of music history.
