SATURDAY, JAN. 25
The Erie Philharmonic will be kicking off 2025 with a performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, featuring pianist Janice Carissa performing the iconic composition over a century after its debut. Accompanying Gershwin’s fusion of classical music and jazz will be Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fantasia and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
American bandleader Paul Whiteman commissioned Gershwin to write a concerto-inspired jazz composition in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, having been impressed with the composer’s work with the one-act jazz opera Blue Monday and fellow collaborations on Broadway. Gershwin initially declined due to the timeframe but was persuaded after news of the partnership broke in the Jan. 4 edition of the New York Tribune and claims from Whiteman that rival bandleader Vincent Lopez would steal the concert style. Initially titled American Rhapsody, Gershwin wrote the original manuscript for two pianos in just five weeks — and many of the thematic ideas were inspired by a train ride from Boston…