Heartsong: Mendelssohn, Guo, & Rachmaninoff

Music doesn’t just resonate—it reaches the heart. On Saturday, November 22, at 7:30PM, LexPhil brings our love for music to the Singletary Center for the Arts stage in an evening of emotive and sincere repertoire. Conducted by Music Director Mélisse Brunet, Heartsong brings together three deeply expressive works that speak to love, memory, and emotional resilience. The evening opens with the Kentucky Premiere of Moni Jasmine Guo’s the sound of where i came from (乡音 Xiāng Yīn). Commissioned by the League of American Orchestras’ Toulmin Foundation, this evocative work is a musical reflection on Guo’s hometown of Taiyuan, China—a tribute to place, culture, and belonging. LexPhil is proud to be one of four orchestras to bring this original work to the stage. Next, Tai Murray, hailed for her elegance and power, joins LexPhil for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Referred to as the “heart’s jewel” of the violin repertoire, the concerto blends lyrical beauty and virtuosic brilliance in a work as emotionally compelling as it is technically dazzling. The program closes with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, a sweeping expression of vulnerability and triumph. Written after the devastating failure of his First Symphony, this lush, romantic work restored Rachmaninoff’s confidence. Regarding the years of cuts and revisions of the piece, the composer said, “It is like cutting out a piece of my heart.” Heartsong: Mendellsohn, Guo, & Rachmaninoff will carry you through a powerful journey of memory, love, and revival.