Fresh from her solo appearance with the Boston Symphony at its opening night concert for the season, the 18-year-old Keila Wakao will both move and dazzle listeners with her unique virtuosity and deeply felt playing. First-prize winner of both the Menuhin Junior Division and Stulberg International competitions, Keila has received numerous other awards and will again appear as soloist with the Boston Symphony in the coming Tanglewood season. She will perform the most popular American violin concerto written by “hyper-romantic” composer Samuel Barber. Dvorak’s cheerful and lyrical Symphony No. 8 and a Dvorak-inspired work by the African-English Coleridge-Taylor will round out the program.

SPM is honored to perform a major work by the renowned Scottish-American, Thea Musgrave, one of the first women composers to achieve international acclaim. Her constantly innovative and meaningful scores continue to be featured in every part of the globe. Turbulent Landscapes was inspired by seven paintings by socially conscious English impressionist J.M.W. Turner. Commissioned and premiered by the Boston Symphony in 2003, each of the strikingly descriptive movements will feature one of SPM’s principal players. Framing Turbulent Landcases are the bustling depiction of English sailors in Walton’s Portsmouth Point Overture and Elgar’s beloved Nimrod Variations, a series of touching tributes to fourteen of the composer’s closest friends.

Symphony No. 6, Tragic, will continue SPM’s long history of this mind-blowing composer’s major works.  The monumental 6th comes from a time of turmoil in both Mahler’s and the world’s life.  World War I was about to break out and Mahler faced serious struggles in his relationships and health.  He drew upon the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche’s “eternal recurrence” or the idea of embracing life’s challenges with courage and resilience for inspiration.  Hence the symphony is the story of humankind’s struggle with and abilitity to overcome the negative forces of life itself.  Requiring the most intense emotion and highest level skills of each member of its enormous orchestral forces, Mahler 6 will fully engage listeners and bring us from tragedy to triumph!

From Wagner’s stirring introduction to one of the monumental tragedies of Italian history to the exquisite tone painting of the French impressionist Debussy’s depiction of the many moods of the sea, this program reminds us why the symphony orchestra remains the most popularly appealing vehicle for the art of Western classical music.  Prepare to be enchanted by the orchestra’s immense variety of expression and ability to both move and inspire us.  Also featured on the program is the recently rediscovered major cello concerto by 20th century Brazilian composer, Claudio Santoro, that employs the cello to portray the exotic narrative, dance, and lyricism of our South American neighbor.  We’re thrilled that the leading young Brazilian cellist Marina Martins, who recently released an award winning recording of the work, will join us as soloist.