BERNSTEIN & TCHAIKOVSKY
Presented in partnership with The Gilmore
Experience an unforgettable evening of passion, rhythm, and virtuosity as we welcome internationally acclaimed Ukrainian pianist Stanislav Khristenko to the stage. In collaboration with The Gilmore, this electrifying concert celebrates the vibrant spirit of Eastern Europe and the bold brilliance of American musical theater. The program opens with three of Antonín Dvořák’s Slavic Dances, bursting with folkloric charm and rhythmic vitality. Then, dive into the heart of New York City with Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story—a dazzling fusion of jazz, Latin rhythms, and sweeping emotion.
The evening culminates in the majestic Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a tour de force of romantic intensity and technical brilliance, brought to life by Khristenko’s commanding artistry.
A celebration of cultural richness, musical storytelling, and world-class talent
—this is a concert you won’t want to miss!
FEATURED GUESTS
Stanislav Khristenko, piano
Gilmore Artist
Plus a Side-by-Side Performance with
the Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra
TICKETS
Adult – $40 Zone A | $24 Zone B
Youth* – $20 Zone A | $12 Zone B
Processing fees included in price.
*Youth – ages 6-17 years
SAT. MAY 9, 2026
EVENT SCHEDULE
6:00 PM – Doors Open
6:30 PM – FREE Pre-Concert Conversation with Maestro Aubin (30 min)
7:30 PM – Concert (90 min)
Program Schedule
A free 30-minute pre-concert conversation with Maestro Matthew Aubin that delves into the concert’s featured musical works and composers. Affectionately called in-house as “Matt Chats,” these short sessions always enhance the evening’s experience for concert-goers. This special feature is available prior to each classical concert.
Musicians will already be on stage making a flurry of sound as they fine tune instruments and warm up with last minute practice of musical snippets or scales.
Signaling the start of the concert, a representative from the Symphony will come out on stage to welcome and greet our guests and thank our sponsors and supporters before turning the stage over to our Concertmaster, Musicians, and Conductor.
Slavonic Dances: Op. 46 No.1
Slavonic Dances: Op. 72 No. 2
Slavonic Dances: Op. 46 No. 8
In the 19th century, an age of widespread amateur performance, the face of composition changed dramatically: more and more pieces were being written not only with the concert hall, but also with the amateur’s drawing room, in mind. It was not a new tactic – Mozart, after all, wrote concertos for his students – but with the growth of commercial music publishing, a host of instruction books appeared and a new generation of amateur musicians demanded music to fit their newly developing skills. Antonín Dvorák was among the crop of composers who recognized this, and as a result…
Symphonic Dances weaves together nine episodes from West Side Story—though not in their original dramatic sequence. The music for the Prologue’s danced confrontation between Jets and Sharks boils with tension. Menace yields to the fragile hope expressed in “Somewhere,” a dream vision of a world that makes love possible. A brief Scherzo hints at the Americana landscapes of Bernstein’s friend Aaron Copland and provides a transition to “Mambo” in the Dance at the Gym scene, where Tony and Maria meet and instantly fall in love. The stylized energy of the dances curbs the rival gangs’ violent impulses, while the gentle rhythms of “Cha-cha” focus on the young lovers.
On Christmas Eve of 1874, Peter I. Tchaikovsky experienced a spiritual blow so devastating that it took three years before he could even mention it. It concerned his informal playing of his First Piano Concerto in the home of a friend for Nicolai Rubinstein, his superior at the Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky was seeking some friendly technical advice about the piano part. Instead, this is what happened: