According to The New York Times, “Ms. Josefowicz’s musicality is as dazzling as her technique.”

The concert program opens with Tod und Verklärung (“Death and Transfiguration”) by Richard Strauss, followed appropriately by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra premiere of Mr. Adams’ stirring On the Transmigration of Souls. This Pulitzer Prize-winning work for chorus and orchestra was written in reaction to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, specifically the attack on the World Trade Center, and has garnered praise around the world. It also earned Mr. Adams a Grammy Award for “Best Classical Contemporary Composition.”

“John Adams is one of the composers in America who needs no introduction,” said Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Music Director Paavo Järvi. “Hearing On the Transmigration of Souls is a very moving experience, and I’m happy it’s coming to Cincinnati – especially with the composer conducting. There’s a great sense of authenticity.”

For the second half of the concert, the audience is musically transported to sunny California for The Dharma at Big Sur, an Adams work originally commissioned for the opening of Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and featuring Ms. Josefowicz on the electric violin. According to The New York Times, “the rich intricacies in the orchestra, with haunting stretches of music that seem laconic in some laid-back Los Angeles way, yet tremble underneath with fidgety figures, wayward counterpoint and fractured rhythms...”

Audiences are invited to learn more about the music at Classical Conversations with guest conductor and composer John Adams and guest electric violinist Leila Josefowicz, hosted by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Eric Dudley, one hour before the performances. -- www.cincinnatisymphony.org