Bach’s Double Violin Concerto is a family affair featuring BPO concertmaster Nikki Chooi and his equally virtuosic brother, Timothy Chooi in an energetic exchange of musical one-up-man-ship. Timothy solos on Prokofiev’s lyrical and romantic Violin Concerto No. 1, and the BPO performs the beautifully melodic Third Symphony of Brahms. Puerto Rico’s Roberto Sierra contributes the sizzling Dos Piezas.

The highly anticipated total solar eclipse on Buffalo’s horizon illuminates the program selection of two contemporary composers to complement Holst’s dazzling interpretation of the cosmos, The Planets. Nina Shekhar’s haunting Lumina explores the concept of lightness and dark, while The Universe in Ecstatic Motion by Christopher Theofanidis is a showcase for pre-eminent flutist, Marina Piccinini.

Internationally-acclaimed violinist and Sphinx Competition laureate Melissa White was recently appointed Professor of Music at UB. She performs the sweeping Violin Concerto No. 2 of Florence Price in a program also featuring two rarely performed works; Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Beethoven and Mendelssohn’s “Reformation”.

A weekend of fanciful dreams and fantastical escapades awaits when the musical narration of Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote takes the stage with BPO principal cellist Roman Mekinulov portraying the role of the knight errant. The intoxicating romance of Spain continues with Ravel’s lush Rapsodie espagnole.

“A musical portrait of Stalin,” has described Shostakovich’s primarily oppressive and sinister Tenth Symphony, his first in five years after a Soviet denouncement of music. Composer Daron Hagen touts the performance of electric guitarist D.J. Sparr on his Electric Guitar Concerto as a “joyous, celebratory romp.” Desert Transport portrays experiencing the sound sensations of a helicopter in flight.

The quintessential love theme, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy took ten years to achieve its final symphonic poem form. Pianist Ying Li offers Mozart’s brooding Piano Concerto No. 20, cavorting between ‘storm and stress’ and rhythmic energy. Altered Landscape was commissioned by guest conductor Laura Jackson, music director of the Reno (NV) Symphony Orchestra, to explore through music the role of humanity on the changing planet.

Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto highlights this season’s offerings of timeless classics selected by JoAnn Falletta to celebrate the season.

Our two-weekend festival recognizing the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birth is anchored by the return of young phenom, Alexander Malofeev performing the stamina-challenging, imposing Third Piano Concerto in a program that includes the composer’s hypnotic Vocalise and the haunting tone poem, Isle of the Dead.

The intoxicating influence of Spain dominate both Ravel’s syncopated and sinuous Boléro and his humorous Alborada del gracioso. Continuing the travelogue are Debussy’s colorful Ibéria, and the talented Tianwa Yang tackles the exhilarating Violin Concerto composed by Jascha Heifetz by Miklós Rózsa.

Our Memorial Day weekend tradition pays a musical tribute to the men and women of the armed forces who defend our freedom.