2025/2026
Masterworks
Heart of a New World
When
May 1, 2026 7:00 pmWhere
UAB’s Alys Stephens Center — Jemison Concert HallJoin acclaimed cellist Julian Schwarz, and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra for Heart of a New World — an evening that celebrates American creativity and spirit through three distinctive works.
The concert opens with Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal, a vibrant piece that crackles with wit and energy. Its rhythmic drive and melodic brightness capture Barber’s distinctive American voice at its most engaging.
Cellist Julian Schwarz then performs Jennifer Higdon’s Cello Concerto, a Pulitzer Prize-winning work by one of today’s most celebrated composers. Higdon creates a sound world that’s both lyrical and intensely expressive, offering the soloist opportunities for both technical brilliance and deep emotional connection.
The evening closes with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World.” Composed during his years in America, this symphony weaves together Czech folk traditions with the musical landscapes Dvořák discovered here. The result is music that feels both nostalgic and forward-looking — a work about exploration, inspiration, and finding home in unfamiliar territory.
This is a night that brings together past and present, celebrating what happens when artists embrace new horizons. We look forward to seeing you there.
Read more about this concert in the program notes here.
Artists
Christopher Confessore, conductor
Julian Schwarz, cello
Program to Include
BARBER The School for Scandal Overture
HIGDON Cello Concerto (Alabama première)
DVOŘÁK Symphony No.9 “The New World”
Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed figures in contemporary classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and a 2020 Grammy for her Harp Concerto. Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the opera recording was nominated for 2 Grammy awards. In 2018, Higdon received the prestigious Nemmers Prize, awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. Most recently, she was inducted into the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works, and blue cathedral is today’s most performed contemporary orchestral work, with more than 850 performances worldwide. Her works have been recorded on more than 70 CDs. Her music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press.