PROGRAM

ASU Symphony Orchestra

Amen!, Carlos Simon

Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, "West Side Story", Leonard Bernstein arr. Randall Craig Fleischer 

I. Mambo

II. Cha Cha

III. Maria

IV. Tonight

V. Cadenza

VI. Prologue

VII. America

VIII. Quintet

IX. Cadenza

X. Finale

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, Antonín Dvořák

I. Adagio - Allegro molto

II. Largo

III. Scherzo. Molto vivace

IV. Allegro con fuoco

Alejandro Gómez Guillén, Hayoung Jeong, conductors

Help Keep the Music Alive!

Amen! (2017)

Carlos Simon

Inspired by the sound and spirit of African-American Pentecostal worship, Carlos Simon’s Amen! captures the energy, joy, and emotional depth of the church service he grew up with. Originally written for band in 2017 and later arranged for orchestra, the work unfolds in three continuous sections, moving from exuberant call-and-response gestures to a soulful middle passage that quotes the gospel song “I’ll Take Jesus for Mine.” The piece drives toward an ecstatic conclusion shaped by the “Amen” cadence (IV–I), building to a powerful, celebratory climax.

Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, "West Side Story" (2011)

Leonard Bernstein arr. Randall Craig Fleischer

Randall Fleischer’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, “West Side Story” reimagines Leonard Bernstein’s iconic musical through the lens of the concert hall. Drawing on beloved themes from West Side Story, Fleischer transforms familiar melodies into a sweeping symphonic narrative, where the string quartet becomes both storyteller and protagonist. At times intimate, at times electrifying, the solo quartet converses with the orchestra in music that dances, sighs, and soars. Hints of jazz, Latin rhythm, and Broadway lyricism shimmer beneath Fleischer’s orchestral colors, evoking the tenderness, tension, and tragic beauty at the heart of Bernstein’s world. The result is not a retelling of the musical, but a lyrical meditation on its emotional landscape—romance and restlessness, longing and fire—reborn for the symphonic stage.

Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 (1893)

Antonín Dvořák

Composed during Dvořák’s stay in America, the “New World” Symphony is a love letter to a land he experienced as both unfamiliar and deeply stirring. Captivated by African American spirituals and Native American song, Dvořák believed these traditions carried the soul of America’s musical future. He did not quote them directly; instead, he allowed their contours, rhythms, and emotional honesty to shape his own melodies from Bohemia. The result is music that feels at once homesick and hopeful. From the sweeping horizons of the opening to the tender, aching Largo and the blazing, dance-like vitality that follows, the symphony sings of longing, wonder, and discovery. In the final movement, earlier themes return and intertwine, as if memory itself were guiding the music home.

MEET THE ASU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & RED MOUNTAIN ORCHESTRA

ASU Conductor & Music Director

Alejandro Gómez Guillén

ASU Assistant Conductors

Hayoung Jeong, Serena Fornay, Lauren Burchell

Red Mountain Conductor & Music Director

John Haggard