The La Jolla Symphony & Chorus presents "Echoes of Time," an unforgettable program that journeys through musical history, weaving together innovation, tradition, and rediscovery. This extraordinary concert features world-renowned pipa virtuoso Wu Man, who joins the orchestra for the world premiere of Lei Liang's Five Seasons, a captivating new work for pipa and string orchestra that explores the relationship between human experience and the natural world.

The second half of the concert explores the evolution of musical expression through the works of composers who each left an indelible mark on their time.

Arnold Schoenberg's Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene is a strikingly modern composition, originally conceived as music for an unmade film, embodying dramatic tension and psychological depth through Schoenberg's pioneering twelve-tone technique.

In contrast, the lush harmonies and late-Romantic warmth of Alexander von Zemlinsky's Prelude to Es War Einmal provide a rich tapestry of orchestral color, illustrating the composer's deep lyricism and storytelling ability.

The concert culminates in the rarely heard original 1841 version of Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 4, a masterpiece that pulses with dramatic urgency and expressive depth. Unlike its later, revised version, this earlier iteration maintains a seamless, organic flow between movements, reflecting Schumann's revolutionary approach to symphonic form.

Opening the program is A Short Piece for Orchestra by Julia Perry, an underrecognized mid-20th-century composer whose music is only now being rediscovered. Perry's work showcases a dynamic fusion of European classical traditions and American modernism, reflecting her innovative spirit and resilience in a historically challenging era for women composers of color.

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