Yannick Leads Sibelius

María Dueñas has left a trail of conquests in her career, already summoning comparisons to such a legendary master as Itzhak Perlman. Her trajectory has been remarkable: By the age of 14 she was winning international competitions, and in this era of social media stardom, videos of her competition performances popped up online and commanded legions of viewers. The New York Times noted, “People in the field have talked about ‘her Lalo,’ referring to her videos of Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, with the kind of shorthand often used for legendary performances.” Dueñas won the 2017 Menuhin Competition with a performance of this work; now you can hear her perform it live.

The program begins with the powerful Orchestral Suite from Terence Blanchard’s groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones*, the first opera by a Black composer ever to be staged at the Metropolitan Opera. It’s a special experience to hear Yannick conduct this stirring music; he also conducted the Met performances and led the world premiere of the Orchestral Suite with the Philadelphians in 2024.

Going out in a blaze of glory, the program ends with Sibelius’s grand and sweeping Fifth Symphony*. 

*Historic Philadelphia Orchestra world or United States premieres