The Cape Symphony Orchestra will present “A New Era,” the inaugural concert of its 2025/26 season, on September 20 and 21 at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center. Guest conductor David Charles Abell will lead a program of music by George Walker, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Johannes Brahms. Rising star Sofia Hernández-Williams is the soloist for Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1.
The concert will open with John Williams’s arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by American composer George Walker’s Pageant and Proclamation, which was commissioned by the New Jersey Symphony in 1997. Sofia Hernández-Williams, just 11 years old, will take the stage for Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1, a favorite of virtuoso cellists since its premiere in Paris in 1873. After an intermission, the Orchestra will perform Brahms’s soaring Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. A masterpiece of tremendous scale with Beethoven’s unmistakable influence, this work premiered in 1876. Among Vienna’s discerning audiences, critic Eduard Hanslick called it “an inexhaustible fountain of deep pleasure.”
Provincetown resident David Charles Abell’s career spans classical music, opera, film, and musical theatre. Known for his theatrical yet disciplined style, Abell has conducted many of the world’s top orchestras, including the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Atlanta Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Boston Pops, and collaborated with leading artists including Bryn Terfel, Diana Damrau, Judi Dench, Idina Menzel, and Josh Groban. In opera, he has worked with Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Opera Philadelphia, and is celebrated in musical theatre for Les Misérables’ 10th and 25th Anniversary Concerts and French premieres of Stephen Sondheim’s works. Honoring his mentor Leonard Bernstein, Abell has conducted Songfest, West Side Story, and major Bernstein tributes worldwide.
Sofia Hernández-Williams studies at Worcester’s Joy of Music Program (JOMP) and Boston’s Project String Training Education Program, has attended chamber music programs at Rivers Conservatory and Groton Hill Music, and studied with Dr. Anzel Gerber in Vienna. She is a member of the Repertory Orchestra at Boston Youth Symphonies and principal cellist of the JOMP Youth Orchestra. Sofia has performed Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C Major with the Seven Hills Symphony, the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra.
Concert ticketholders are invited to a talk about the program led by Assistant Conductor Joe Marchio one hour before each performance.
“A New Era” will be performed Saturday, September 20 at 4:00 PM and Sunday, September 21 at 3:00 PM at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center, 744 West Main Street, Hyannis. For tickets, visit www.capesymphony.org, call the Cape Symphony Box Office at 508.362.1111, email tickets@capesymphony.org, or visit the Box Office at 2235 Iyannough Road in West Barnstable, Monday – Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Tickets for students aged 6 - 22 are discounted 50%. Only tickets purchased on Cape Symphony’s secure website or through the Cape Symphony Box Office are legitimate and guaranteed.
The Cape Symphony Orchestra’s Masterpiece series concerts are sponsored by Cape Cod 5.
Media Contact:
Susan Sundermeyer, Marketing Content Manager
508-367-8918; ssundermeyer@capesymphony.org
About Cape Arts & Entertainment
Cape Arts & Entertainment, also known as Cape Symphony, is one of the largest professional cultural organizations in Massachusetts. We inspire, educate, and connect our community through exceptional music and inclusive outreach programs. The Cape Symphony Orchestra presents a diverse classical and Pops repertoire, while Cape Symphony Presents brings world-class artists of a variety of genres to venues across Cape Cod. Cape Symphony Preschool and Conservatory offer an acclaimed arts-infused curriculum for preschoolers, and private lessons, group classes, ensembles, dance, and art to students of all ages at our West Barnstable and Falmouth campuses. Rooted in creativity, excellence, community, and lifelong learning, all three branches of CA&E enrich lives through the power of music and the arts. Visit www.capesymphony.org for more information.