The upcoming program of the North Carolina Symphony (NCS) includes music by Eastern Europeancomposers—one of whom now resides in Apex, North Carolina, and is the grandfather of an NCS violinist. Conducted by Music Director Grant Llewellyn, the program is performed at Meymandi Concert Hall on October 7 and 8 at 8pm at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, and on October 9 at 7:30pm at Memorial Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill. A shortened program will be performed as part of the Symphony’s noontime Friday Favorites series on October 7.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Karel Husawas born in Prague and came to the United States in 1954, where he spent the majority of his career at Cornell University before retiring to Apex, North Carolina. Committed to highlighting North Carolina composers and artists, NCS is delighted to perform his Pastoral, a tender work for string orchestra written in 1980 and borrowing its theme from a violin sonata Husa composed in 1944 while still a student at the Prague Conservatory.

NCS has another important tie to Husa—his granddaughter is NCS violinist Maria Meyer, who performs on this concert. “I love to play my grandfather’s compositions,” says Meyer. “He’s an amazing musician. He inspires me all the time—he inspired me to have a career in music—and I feel very privileged to be able to perform his work with the North Carolina Symphony.”

Dvo?ák’s Symphony No. 5 was one of his personal favorite works to conduct. Written in little more than a month, Dvo?ák dedicated the symphony to pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow, who was exceedingly impressed. “Next to Brahms, you are the most divinely gifted composer of the present day,” von Bülow wrote. “This dedication is a greater honor than a Grand Cross from some duke.”

The Symphony No. 5 is lighthearted and joyful, bursting with melody and good humor. The airy melody first played by the clarinet at the opening of the work sets the tone for a pastoral feel that defines this symphony, and moments inspired by Czech folk dances appear throughout. “Dvo?ák embraced influences from his homeland in the charming Fifth Symphony,” says Llewellyn.

Leningrad-born pianist Alexei Volodin—last year’s artist-in-residence at The Mariinsky Orchestra and Theatre—joins NCS for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, which embodies the composer’s personality with its wit, sparkling runs, and rhythmic energy. The most popular of Prokofiev’s three piano concertos, it stands out for the level of interactive dialogue between the solo piano and orchestra.

The Friday Favorites matinée program will include Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, an energetic showpiece by one of the earliest champions of Russian music, in place of the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3.

Pre-concert talks take place at 7pm before the evening concerts in Raleigh, 6:30pmbefore the Chapel Hill concert, and 11am before the Friday Favorites concert.

The North Carolina Symphony expresses its appreciation to October 7, Noon, Concert Sponsor The Cypress of Raleigh for their generous support. The October 8 concert is made possible in part by The Charles E. Potts/Fanny R. Potts Guest Pianist Fund.