Maestro José-Luis Novo Leads a Historic One-Night Performance

at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on June 1, 2026, at 8 pm

 The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (ASO) makes its debut at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on Monday, June 1, 2026, at 8:00 PM, with a landmark program led by Artistic Director and Conductor José-Luis Novo. The concert coincides with the League of American Orchestras Annual Conference and is a rare opportunity for audiences to experience the ASO in one of the nation’s most celebrated concert halls.

The program is a journey from darkness to triumph that unfolds from low and somber tones to powerful and energetic celebration. It opens with the Annapolis Symphony Academy’s Orion Youth Orchestra performing side-by-side with their ASO musician-mentors—a powerful symbol of music’s ability to inspire across generations. The evening culminates with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47—one of the most gripping works of the 20th century—and Reynaldo Moya’s Polo Romanesco, a vibrant postmodern send-up of centuries-old harmonic tradition.

“This concert represents everything we aspire to as an orchestra,” said ASO Executive Director Erica Bondarev Rapach. “For the musicians to step onto the Meyerhoff stage for the first time—alongside our Academy students—and share this extraordinary program with colleagues from orchestras across the country is a moment we will never forget.”

The Music: From First Notes to Triumph

Nancy Galbraith — Midnight Stirring

The evening opens with Nancy Galbraith’s Midnight Stirring, performed side-by-side by the Orion Youth Orchestra and their ASO musician-mentors. Beginning with a solo violin melody over low, slightly ominous chords, the work unfolds into a lively ostinato with richly harmonized melodic lines—full of rhythmic energy and texture. Originally commissioned for the 2015 National Flute Convention in Washington, D.C., it was rescored by the composer for orchestra, and it makes for a striking and meaningful collaboration between young artists and professionals sharing the same stage.

Benjamin Britten — Soírées musicales, Op. 9

The Orion Youth Orchestra and ASO musicians perform Britten’s Soírées musicales, a five-movement suite composed by the 22-year-old Britten, drawing on themes from Rossini’s collection of the same name. The orchestra will perform movements 1, 3, and 5. Charming, dance-like, and sharpened with inventive orchestration, it showcases a young composer’s technical command and irresistible wit—an ideal work for young musicians to inhabit and own.

Reinaldo Moya — Polo Romanesco

Moya’s Polo Romanesco is a postmodern, playful, and deeply felt exploration of the Romanesca—a harmonic formula dating to the 16th century that traveled from Europe across the Atlantic and became the foundation for the beloved Venezuelan folk song, the Polo Margriteño. Moya’s piece weaves old and new, European and Venezuelan, classical and popular into something entirely its own. It is a bridge built from music across unthinkable distances and centuries.

Dmitri Shostakovich — Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Written under intense political pressure in 1937, Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony remains one of the most electrifying and contested works in the symphonic canon. Was it a sincere act of defiance, or a calculated concession to Soviet authority? Scholars and audiences have debated the composition for nearly a century, while audiences have adored the piece for its unforgettable intensity. From a hauntingly somber opening to a finale of overwhelming force, the symphony demands everything from the orchestra and gives everything in return.

“Shostakovich’s Fifth is a work of immense complexity and raw power,” said Maestro Novo. “It speaks to resilience, to survival, to the endurance of the human spirit under impossible pressure. To perform it on this stage, at this moment, feels right.”

The Annapolis Symphony Academy Orion Youth Orchestra

The Orion Youth Orchestra, conducted by ASA Assistant Conductor Claire Lewis, opens the concert performing Midnight Stirring and Soírées musicales side-by-side with ASO musicians—a mentor-student collaboration that is among the most distinctive and moving aspects of the ASO’s mission. The Annapolis Symphony Academy offers students from preschool through high school the opportunity to study with the ASO’s professional musicians. The Orion Youth Orchestra represents the program’s highest ensemble level.

Concert Details

Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 at The Meyerhoff

An ASO Special Debut Performance

Monday, June 1, 2026 | 8:00 PM

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD

Program:

Nancy Galbraith — Midnight Stirring (with Orion Youth Orchestra, conducted by Claire Lewis)

Benjamin Britten — Soírées musicales, Op. 9 (with Orion Youth Orchestra, conducted by José-Luis Novo)

Reinaldo Moya — Polo Romanesco

Dmitri Shostakovich — Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

Tickets

Tickets for this performance are available exclusively through the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s website. While the concert is scheduled during the League of American Orchestra’s annual national conference, the general public is also welcome to purchase a ticket and attend.