July 13, 2026

​July 13, 2026
 
Music School Festival Orchestra No. 2 of 2026 is in the books. It was an evocative and kaleidoscopic program as one might expect with works of Ravel, Kodaly and Stravinsky.
 
I had planned on conducting the Ravel Five Piece from Mother Goose but illness took me out of commission for a few days. I asked MSFO Conducting Fellow Michelle Bushkova to add that to her responsibilities on this program which already included the demanding Kodaly Galanta Dances. As expected, she and the orchestra brought polish, nuance and vitality to these two gems.
 
We rounded out the program with Stravinsky’s tragic carnival of music, Petrouchka. This score never fails to get the nerve endings tingling in so many ways. It is among most challenging works in the repertoire, and the wonderful players of the MSFO were more than up for that challenge.
 
July 20, 2026
 
Chautauqua Institution
Music School Festival Orchestra
Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater
Tianyu Li, violin
 
8:00 p.m.
 
RAUTAVARRA             A Tale of Fate, from Book of Visions
SIBELIUS                      Violin Concerto
PROKOFIEV                 Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2
 
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