Juxtaposing his pacifist beliefs against his family’s military traditions, a young man finds himself leaving his training to confront his family in Benjamin Britten’s hauntingly intense opera Owen Wingrave. As Wingrave seeks to prove his courage, he unknowingly veers toward a collision against fate, leading to unexpected consequences.

World-renowned conductor Marin Alsop makes her first appearance at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center as Music Director of the National Orchestral Institute + Festival with works by NOI+F Composition Academy faculty member Brian Raphael Nabors as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s adventurous epic Scheherazade. Brian Raphael Nabor's Pulse is a contemplation of our world’s natural rhythms. The episodic rhapsody explores life’s colorful rhythmic variants held together by an underlying unified pulse.

NOI+F’s first cohort of Conducting Fellows takes the lead on the podium in this performance of works written by our inaugural Composition Fellows. Hosted by Music Director Marin Alsop, in this event you will hear two different interpretations of each piece–each showcasing a different Conducting Fellow. You will also hear from each Composition Fellow about their work. Be sure to also join us at the end of our performance for a dynamic conversation moderated by Marin and guest composer Mason Bates.

James Ross leads the NOI Philharmonic in jovial works that visit the varied roots of each composer.. Quinn Mason's festive Toast of the Town is written in the style of a lighthearted operetta and is tuneful and charming in its writing. György Ligeti's Romanian Concerto is inspired by folk music echoing from his childhood in the central Romanian region of Transylvania.