Copland and Bernstein were without question two of the greatest American composers of the 20th century, and the two pieces played here date from 1950 and 1957. Both composers looked at various points in their lives to Europe for inspiration, for teachers, and for work.

Copland wrote his Clarinet Concerto for the jazz musician Benny Goodman, and the jazz-inflected colours of Bernstein’s score are all the more vibrant in this arrangement for symphonic winds.

Dvořák was a pioneering European celebrity who, 60 years earlier, travelled from central Europe to New York to be Director of the National Conservatory for Music in New York. His ‘New World’ Symphony combines Czech and indigenous American folk tunes, painting a masterful picture of drama and nostalgia.

The concert opens with a new work for orchestra with voices, by Purcell student Philip Theodorou.