Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy & Sibelius’s Second Symphony

Date and Time

• Saturday, Oct 4, 2025  7:30pm

Location

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Details

Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Albert Cano Smit, piano
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus

Michael Abels: Amplify
Franz Schubert: Hunting Song from Rosamunde
Ludwig van Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Featuring pianist Albert Cano Smit, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy is an uplifting and familiar predecessor, in both melody and message, to his Ode to Joy, uniting virtuosic piano writing with chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra. Sibelius’s heroic Second Symphony has been described as a moving depiction of Finland’s struggle for independence from Russia at the start of the 20th century.