Win Tickets to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony!
Big Night Out Concert Date: Sun 10/11/2026
LA Phil
Concert Dates: Fri Nov 13, 2026 8PM Sun Nov 15, 2026 2PM
Artists: Los Angeles Philharmonic Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor Steven Banks, saxophone
The Russian Romantic’s passionate thrill ride meets a contemporary saxophone concerto about the Black American diaspora.
About the Performance: Known for constantly wrestling with his personal turmoil, Tchaikovsky described the driving force of his Fourth Symphony as Fate itself, “the fatal power which prevents one from attaining the goal of happiness.” Finnish conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste leans into the composer’s anguish and desire to overcome with an exhilarating interpretation of this passionate symphony. By the finale, audiences will be convinced of Tchaikovsky’s belief that “joy is a simple but powerful force….To live is still possible.”
At the center of the program is Diaspora, a saxophone concerto by Los Angeles-based composer Billy Childs that confronts history and identity. Using poetry by Maya Angelou, Claude McKay, and Nayyirah Waheed as guideposts for the music, Childs says Diaspora is “sifted through the prism of my own experience as a Black man in America.”
The Seattle Times lauded Steven Banks, whom the work was written, for evoking both the idyllic and harrowing aspects of Diaspora and bringing “extraordinary presence and variety to the solo part, moving between soprano and alto saxophones as if an actor playing multiple roles.”
Win Tickets Below!