Written by Gershwin in 1928, the piece was heavily influenced by jazz and by the sights and sounds of Paris when the composer was living there in the 1920s. Outside of Rhapsody in Blue, it’s arguably his greatest and best-known work, and inspired the 1951 Hollywood musical of the same name.
The Orchestra NOW conducted by James Bagwell will perform Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, and Jennifer Higdon’s Blue Cathedral at the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, on February 3 at 8pm and February 4 at 2pm. The Orchestra NOW conducted by Leon Botstein returns on February 17 and 18 for performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 and Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1. Tickets are $25. For more information, call (845) 758-7900 or visit http://fishercenter.bard.edu/.