NM Philharmonic: Rhapsody in Blue

Na’Zir McFadden, conductor
Sydney Taske,r cello
Kate Shao, piano

Coleridge-Taylor Ballade in a minor
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet

Just over 100 years ago, George Gershwin composed a concerto for jazz orchestra, and the result redefined American music. Take in his Rhapsody in Blue, performed by Kate Shao, first-place winner in the piano division of this year’s Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition. The youthful vigor continues with cellist Sydney Tasker, the first-place string division winner, performing Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Also on the program are Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s energetic Ballade and Tchaikovsky’s Overture-Fantasy Romeo and Juliet.