Don’t miss this evening of audience favorites! The celebratory program kicks off with John Williams’ iconic Olympic Fanfare, followed by Johann Strauss Jr.’s Blue Danube, recognizable from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Associate Conductor Stephanie Childress will then lead the orchestra through Wagner’s thrilling Ride of the Valkries and Rossini’s William Tell overture. The blockbuster program concludes with Ravel’s stirring Boléro.

The Sun Valley Music Festival is thrilled to announce that Yo-Yo Ma will join Music Director Alasdair Neale and the Festival Orchestra for an unforgettable Gala concert in celebration of the Festival’s 40th Summer Season. The performance will be the Sun Valley debut of the celebrated cellist, who is one of the most acclaimed artists of our time and whose name epitomizes classical music. He will perform Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor. 

Knighted in 2022, Sir Stephen Hough is a composer and author in addition to being one of the world’s finest pianists. For this concert, he will perform two solo piano pieces (including one he wrote) before joining with Festival Musicians for Antonin Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2. Dvořák fills his Quintet with Bohemian song and dance elements that he wrote himself in the traditional style. It’s a happy piece that was instantly popular and still is, and it’s easy to hear why: a variety of alternative motifs, ranging in emotional quality, but always returning to graceful and joyful melodies.

Edvard Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto in A minor at the young age of 24, and it’s no wonder it’s his only one–it’s about as close to perfection as a concerto can get. From the thunderous opening, to the many lyrical melodies in the first movement, the heartbreakingly beautiful second movement, and the joyful and thrilling third, it’s a tour de force from start to finish. The program opens with Gabriela Ortiz’s Antrópolis, a piece inspired by the music of Mexico’s nightlife, rich with rhythms and melodies from bars, nightclubs, and dance halls.