Stephanie Childress — a conductor with “irresistible, headlong energy” (Financial Times) — leads one of classical music’s grandest spectacles: Holst’s The Planets. With movements including the ethereal “Neptune, the Mystic” to the thundering “Mars, the Bringer of War,” this iconic suite sweeps you to the heavens. The MSO’s own Margaret Butler takes center stage with an all-too-rarely showcased cousin to the oboe, the English horn; Ned Rorem’s gleaming concerto, in five brief movements, offers evocative titles such as “Love Letter,” “Perpetual Motion,” and “Recurring Dream.” The program opens with a world premiere for strings by Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Kouyoumdjian — “her style is never far from profound rapture,” claims The Los Angeles Times.

How you'll feel: swept up, surprised, and as though you can see the music

What to listen for:

• Holst’s tribute to the planets of the solar system explores all seven (minus Earth), and the movements’ names invoke the astrological characters that inspired their music: Mars, the Bringer of War; Venus, the Bringer of Peace; Mercury, the Winged Messenger; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity; Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; Uranus, the Magician; Neptune, the Mystic.
• Listen for the English horn, which does not enjoy enough time in the spotlight! Read our interview “A Rare Skill Set: Margaret Butler, English Horn.” “In a fully orchestrated piece, Butler typically plays third oboe, but [Principal Oboe] Katherine Steele said, “On the English horn, it’s nice to hear her individually, her own point of view.”
• “Mary Kouyoumdjian is a composer and documentarian with projects ranging from concert works to multimedia collaborations and film scores. As a first generation Armenian-American and having come from a family ​directly affected by the Lebanese civil war and Armenian genocide, she uses a sonic palette that draws on her heritage, interest in music as documentary, and background in experimental composition to progressively blend the old with the new.” Read more about Kouyoumdjian, whose world premiere for strings appears on this program, or listen to examples of her orchestral work.