Austin’s All-American Program during America’s 250th
Next May we’ll be heading back to Austin for a follow-up collaboration with Maestro Peter Bay and the Austin Symphony. Back in 2022 we transported audiences to the Grand Canyon with Grand Canyon Country, set to Grofé’s iconic Grand Canyon Suite. This time around at the Long Center for the Performing Arts we’re building upon that previous theme with a double performance of National Park Suite and Rodeo!.
National Park Suite pays homage to America’s impressive array of protected natural, cultural and historical spaces. The piece premiered with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap to celebrate the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service. Since then it has been performed across many states from Illinois to Montana and North Carolina to Ohio. The collaboration in Austin will mark a new milestone for the performance piece—we’ll be premiering a new rendition set to the lovely Adagio movement from Ives’s Symphony No. 1.
Jumping into the chutes and changing up the pace is Rodeo!, choreographed to Copland’s synonymous work. The piece portrays the excitement of a lively small-town rodeo from behind the scenes, with a backdrop of sweeping western landscapes and centuries of ranching heritage in the American West. It’s a wonderful companion piece to National Park Suite, and, with its mix of humor, grit and Americana, it’s consistently an audience favorite.
This all-American program comes during the 250th anniversary of the country in 2026, and also features a not-to-be-missed performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Gould’s American Ballads.
