Norwich
UEA’s Director of Music, Stuart Dunlop, conducts the 70-strong orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Symphonic Dances’ from ‘West Side Story’; Duke Ellington’s ‘Suite – The River’; and Florence Price’s ‘The Oak’.
Bernstein’s ‘West Side Story’ brings the warmth of Romeo and Juliet’s Verona to the fiery melting pot of New York. Heart-breaking melody and almost uncontainable energy collide. Duke Ellington’s 1970 ballet The River became, for the deeply spiritual composer, a River of life. Florence Price is quietly becoming a crucial figure in American musical history and her tone poem ‘The Oak’ makes it clear why.
