NORTHAMPTON, MA — The Smith College Department of Music presents the 2025 Orchestra Spring Concert conducted by Jonathan Hirsh, Saturday, April 19 at 3 p.m. in Sweeney Concert Hall. The Orchestra celebrates the 125th anniversary of Aaron Copland’s birth with a performance of his Lincoln Portrait, narrated by President Sarah Willie-LeBreton and Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo. Also on the program: concerto competition winners Tomoko Hida ’26, Ava Jensen ’26, and Sarah Qin ’26 perform works by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Saint-Saëns. The concert is free and open to the public.
Aaron Copland (1900–1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. His work is famous for his distinctive musical interpretation of American themes using an expressive modern style. He is best known for pieces from the 1930s and 40s, Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kidd, and Fanfare for the Common Man. Lincoln Portrait was commissioned by conductor Andre Kostelanetz in 1942 soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The piece includes readings of Lincoln’s own words excerpted from the 1862 State of the Union Address, the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, and the Gettysburg Address. Smith College President Sarah Willie-LeBreton will narrate for the Smith performance.
Each year, Smith offers a Concerto Competition for its music students. This year’s winners include Ava Jensen ’26, oboe, performing Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314 (1777); Tomoko Hida ’26, violin, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 (1878); and Sarah Qin ’26, piano, playing Saint Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 (1868).
The Orchestra is excited to be honoring the anniversaries of both Aaron Copland and Smith College, which is celebrating 150 years of the first entering class. The Spring Concert takes place during Admitted Students Weekend and is part of the second annual Smith Arts Day. There will be an open rehearsal at 1 p.m. For a complete schedule of Smith Arts Day, visit smith.edu/smithartsday. Both the rehearsal and the concert are free and open to the public.
