Coleridge-Taylor - Danse Nègre, from African Suite, Op. 35

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an English composer of African descent, gained widespread acclaim in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for his richly melodic and rhythmically vibrant music. Among his early successes was the African Suite, Op. 35, composed in 1898 when Coleridge-Taylor was in his early twenties. The suite draws inspiration from African and Afro-Caribbean themes at a time when such cultural expressions were rarely embraced in European concert music. The final movement of the suite, Danse Nègre, is an exuberant and spirited work that captures a vivid sense of celebration and rhythmic vitality. It reflects Coleridge-Taylor’s desire to honor African musical heritage within a classical framework, blending traditional European structures with syncopated rhythms, bold melodies, and colorful orchestration. Danse Nègre bursts with energy from the outset, featuring lively dance rhythms, buoyant themes, and a joyful sense of motion that carries through to its rousing conclusion. Although the piece is not based directly on specific African musical material, it reflects a Romantic-era imagination of African spirit and festivity, filtered through Coleridge-Taylor's unique voice. Today, Danse Nègre stands as a vibrant testament to the composer's pioneering role in bringing African-inspired themes into classical music and broadening the cultural horizons of his time.

Barber - Knoxville: Summer of 1915

In Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Samuel Barber offers a nostalgic, dreamlike meditation on childhood, memory, and the quiet, aching beauty of a bygone America. Setting an evocative prose-poem by James Agee, Barber captures a single summer evening as seen through the eyes of a child — a world where adults murmur quietly on porches, streetcars clatter distantly, and the air hangs heavy with the scent of grass and lilac. The music unfolds like a reverie: tender, luminous, and infused with a bittersweet yearning. Barber’s voice, both intimate and expansive, perfectly mirrors Agee’s language — half memory, half dream. Lyrical lines rise and fall like the warm breezes of dusk, while gentle orchestral colors bathe the scene in golden light. Moments of innocent wonder shift imperceptibly into fleeting shadows of loss, as the child’s awareness brushes against the mysteries and frailties of life. Composed in the wake of Barber’s father’s illness, Knoxville is as much a personal elegy as it is a universal portrait. It sings of home — not just a place, but a moment, a feeling, suspended in time, forever on the edge of vanishing.

Josie Larsen, a current Artist Diploma student of Bradley Williams at the New England Conservatory, is a lyric soprano from Sammamish, Washington. Recently, Josie performed as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan Tutte, Elaine in Later the same evening, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Mimi in La Bohème, and the Governess in The Turn of the Screw. This summer Josie will be a Lehrer Fellow at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. At this program she will be delighted to sing the role of Annunciata in Bolcom’s Lucrezia. Additionally, she will be covering the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Last summer Josie attended the Aspen Music Festival where she studied the role of the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Her concert performances have included Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos. Josie completed her Bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University in 2021 and her Master’s degree at The New England Conservatory in 2023, both in Vocal Performance. This spring she will complete the second and final year of her Artist Diploma. Josie’s greatest joy from performing comes from the opportunity it provides to connect with others from all around the world no matter the language.

Dvořák - Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 stands as one of his greatest achievements — a work of deep emotional power, sweeping drama, and masterful construction. Composed in 1885 at the height of his international fame, the symphony reflects a more turbulent and personal voice than the more pastoral and exuberant qualities often associated with his music. Inspired by political tensions in his native Bohemia and by personal sorrow, Dvořák imbued this symphony with a fierce intensity and brooding lyricism. The first movement surges with dark energy, propelled by a restless, searching theme that Dvořák reportedly conceived after witnessing a train arrive in Prague carrying Czech patriots. The second movement offers a poignant contrast — a mournful hymn, tinged with tenderness and quiet resilience. In the scherzo, rustic rhythms and folk-like dances emerge, though shadows linger beneath the lively surface. The finale drives forward with unstoppable momentum, weaving struggle and hope together before triumphantly resolving in a blaze of D major. Although deeply rooted in the symphonic tradition of Beethoven and Brahms, Dvořák’s Seventh is unmistakably his own — a powerful, distinctly Czech voice singing of national pride, personal longing, and the enduring spirit of the human heart.