We congratulate the great Leonard Bernstein on his 100th birthday. The brilliant all-rounder from Lawrence, Massachusetts, remains unforgotten in Austria as well. In his home country, he was Gershwin’s true heir: a child of Jewish-Ukrainian immigrants, a master both in the musical genre as well as in classical music, a brilliant pianist, conductor and composer. Mei-Ann Chen conducts music that Lenny composed when he was not even 30 years old – parts of his Broadway hit “On the Town” from 1944 and the Symphony No. 2 from 1948. This is accompanied by the clarinet concerto by Bernstein’s hero Aaron Copland, played by the Klezmer and Jazz specialist David Orlowsky. Florence Price, the first Afro-American composer, completes the trio of outsiders who all became classics of American music.

Pre-concert talk in Stefaniensaal at 7.15 pm – admission free