January 16 & 17

YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA

Benjamin Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Side-by-side with FMAYS

Thoreson Steffes Young Artist Solo Competition Winner

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

This annual side by side concert brings together the FM Symphony and the Fargo Moorhead Area Youth Symphonies. Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra plays a central role, offering one of the most brilliant and enduring introductions to orchestral sound. Based on a theme by Henry Purcell, the work presents each family of the orchestra and then individual instruments through a series of imaginative variations before drawing them together in a tightly constructed fugue. Although originally written for an educational film, the piece stands on its own as a masterfully crafted concert work.

The program also features the Fall 2026 winner of the Thoreson Steffes Young Artist Solo Competition, performing their winning selection with the orchestra.

The concert concludes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 one of the most gripping symphonies of the Romantic era. Written during a period of personal upheaval, the work marks Tchaikovsky’s arrival at a fully individual symphonic voice. The symphony is unified by a recurring fanfare that the composer described as a representation of fate, interrupting moments of lyric warmth and celebration throughout the work. From its dramatic opening through its blazing, dance‑driven finale, the Fourth Symphony combines sweeping melodies in a way that has made it a touchstone for orchestral audiences. Known and loved by symphony‑goers around the world, it remains one of Tchaikovsky’s most powerful and emotionally direct works.

Individual tickets on sale 06/15