Xian Zhang, conductor

Steven Banks, saxophone*

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Ballade for Orchestra Op. 33

Billy Childs: Saxophone Concerto** (NSO CO-COMMISSION)

Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”

Experience the sweeping drama of Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony, inspired by African American and indigenous music the composer encountered during his time in America. It has remained one of the most popular symphonies of all time, even heard in space during Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 lunar spaceflight—a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy.

2023 Grammy®–winning conductor Xian Zhang opens the concert Ballade for Orchestra by African British-American Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Billy Childs’ Saxophone Concerto, co-commissioned by the NSO for Steven Banks.

*NSO subscription debut

**First performance by the NSO