Festival Orchestra 3, with Francesco Lecce-Chong, Conductor; Mio Imai, violin

Shuying Li’s Purple Mountains overture will begin an evening of graceful lyricism and energetic rhythms. Amazing young violinist Mio Imai will perform Samuel Barber’s esteemed Violin Concerto. In her hands, elegant solo melodies will soar and mesh with lush orchestral textures. Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, the “Pastoral Symphony,” is one of his few pieces with explicitly programmatic content, narrating in five movements a visit to the countryside. Written at the same time as his fateful and heroic 5th Symphony, it strikes a very different note, transporting listeners to a babbling brook with singing birds and dancing peasants.