GFS 2025-26 “Milestones” Season Finale: American Portraits - America at 250

‍ ‍NEWS CONTACT:

Jennifer Brink, Executive Director

Phone: (518) 793-1348

E-mail: exdir@gfso.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 16, 2026

American Portraits: 250 Years

Chris Brubeck World Premiere: Knox: Can(n)ons of Freedom

+ Gershwin, Copland, Ives & More!

The Glens Falls Symphony

Led by Music Director Charles Peltz

Sunday, May 3, 2026, 4pm

Free pre-concert talk at 3pm

Glens Falls High School Auditorium

Glens Falls Symphony 2025-26 “Milestones” Season Finale: American Portraits

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” Abraham Lincoln spoke these words on August 1, 1858. The Glens Falls Symphony ends its 2025-26 season with these words, read by Special Guest Benita Zhan, over the music of Aaron Copland in his solemn work, “Lincoln Portrait.” The concert on Sunday, May 3, 2026, will also include a World Premiere: “Knox: Can(n)ons of Freedom,” by Chris Brubeck, who will be in residence, as well as works by George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Charles Ives, William Schuman, Joan Tower, and more. The Glens Falls Symphony has a long history of commissioning new works from living composers in collaboration with other orchestras. This is different - the Glens Falls Symphony took on the entire project of commissioning the work from Mr. Brubeck, and on May 3, is placing this new piece on a program with Joan Tower’s “Made in America”, the world premiere for which the Glens Falls ensemble performed in 2005.

Executive Director Jennifer Brink tells us, “We are delighted to be performing a program of music by American composers. In my role on the Warren County 250th Commission, it has been incredible to watch the events commemorating the Henry Knox Expedition in the winter of 1775 come to fruition. It will be thrilling to present a new orchestral work about this great expedition. At the concert on May 3, we will be joined in the lobby by many historical organizations in our area. We hope people will come for the music, and leave inspired to learn about our region’s unique role in the creation of the American experiment in self-governance.”

Presenting in the lobby on May 3 will be representatives from the Fort William Henry Museum, Old Fort House Museum, the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, the Warren County Commission for the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, Grant Cottage, and the Chapman Museum.

Joining the orchestra and conductor Charles Peltz will be both composer Chris Brubeck to introduce his new piece, and narrator Benita Zhan. Music Director Charles Peltz shares, “What a season! We will celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday with an inspiring afternoon of American music: Joplin to Copland, Ives to Ellington. We will revive our nationally renowned GFS premiere in Joan Tower’s ”Made in America” as well as premiere a GFS commission by Chris Brubeck, the country’s foremost composer of music combining jazz and classical streams. The best musical birthday party you can imagine!

This concert is made possible by support from: Warren County Commission for the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, Visit Lake George Area – Warren County Supervisors, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Visit www.theglensfallssymphony.org for more information

“American Portraits: 250 Years”

Program

Variations on "America" Charles Ives (1874-1954)

Chester William Schuman (1910-1992)

The Entertainer Scott Joplin (1868-1917)

Lincoln Portrait Aaron Copland (1900-1990)- Text Read by Special Guest: Benita Zahn

Knox: Can(n)ons of Freedom Chris Brubeck (b. 1952)

World Premiere, commissioned by the Glens Falls Symphony

INTERMISSION

Three Preludes George Gershwin (1889-1937) arr. Justus Rizemond

I. Allegro ben ritmato e deciso

II. Andante con moto e poco rubato

III. Agitato

"MLK" from Three Black Kings Edward "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974)

Made in America Joan Tower (b.1938)

2005 World Premiere by the Glens Falls Symphony

This concert is sponsored by:

The Touba Family Foundation

The Lake George Area

Chris Brubeck is sponsored by:

Robert & Barbara Rosoff

The Glens Falls Symphony performances are made possible in part by the New York State Council of the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

2025-26 GFS season sponsors:

Arrow Bank, The Table Rock Group at Morgan Stanley, The Glens Falls Chronicle, The Queensbury Hotel, Finch Paper, JUST Water & Dan & Jan Hazewski.

About Chris Brubeck:

Grammy-nominated composer Chris Brubeck continues to distinguish himself as an innovative performer and composer who is clearly tuned into the pulse of contemporary music. Respected music critic for The Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein called Chris: “a composer with a real flair for lyrical melody–a 21st Century Lenny Bernstein.”

In addition to creating an impressive body of work, including several band pieces, chamber pieces, 3 concertos for trombone, a trombone quartet, and several concertos for stringed instruments and other ensembles, Chris maintains a demanding touring and recording schedule playing bass and trombone with his two groups: the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, with brother Dan on drums, Chuck Lamb on piano and Mike DeMicco on guitar (www.brubeckbrothers.com); and Triple Play, an acoustic jazz-funk-blues-Americana trio with Joel Brown on guitar and Peter Madcat Ruth on harmonica and Chris on bass, trombone and piano (www.chrisbrubeckstripleplay.com.) Additionally, Chris performs as a soloist playing his trombone concertos with orchestras and has served as Artist in Residence with orchestras and colleges in America, coaching, lecturing, and performing with students and faculty. Once a year, he tours England with the group Brubecks Play Brubeck along with brothers Darius (on piano) and Dan, as well as British saxophonist Dave O’Higgins. Chris had been a long-standing member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, writing arrangements and touring and recording with his father’s group for over 20 years. Dave and Chris co-wrote the orchestral piece “Ansel Adams: America,” which has received dozens of performances and, in 2013, was a Grammy finalist for Best Instrumental Composition.

decline in the history of musical achievement." As a musician, he played and felt emotionally bound to traditional works of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but as an artist, he craved the freedom to explore radical ideas and styles. At sixteen, Klee's landscape drawings already show considerable skill.

About Benita Zhan:

A graduate of SUNY Oswego, Benita earned her MS and DPS/ Bioethics from the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College. She is a nationally certified health and wellness coach through NBC-HWC and has her own coaching business, B YOUR BEST, LLC.

She worked in commercial TV news for 40 years, earning an NY Emmy, NYS Broadcasters Award, International Radio and TV Award, and has been recognized by the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists Media Award, and many other honors. Benita’s work has taken her around the world and across the U.S. She anchored the top-rated 6 pm and 4 pm news at WNYT in Albany, NY. Benita also hosted the long-running HEALTH LINK program at WMHT- PBS. She co-hosts the podcast EVERYTHING THEATER and writes about health for a number of local magazines/newspapers.

About Warren County Commission for the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution:

The Commission's purpose is to promote the appreciation of the 250th Anniversary of the Revolution through educational and public programs and to increase awareness of the pivotal role played by Warren County in the Revolution.

About the Glens Falls Symphony:

Since Maestro Charles Peltz arrived in 2000, the fully professional Glens Falls Symphony has performed a dynamic repertoire, regularly including musical premieres and world-renowned guest artists while expanding musical offerings to include family concerts, summer pops programs, and more. The orchestra is comprised of musicians who come from all over the Northeast to perform. The Glens Falls Symphony is proud to be among the important arts and cultural organizations in the greater Glens Falls area, the smallest city in America to support a fully professional symphony orchestra.

TICKETS

Single Tickets are priced in three tiers:

Adult $45/$39/$29

Student $12

Click Here to Purchase Tickets

Click Here for More Information on this Concert

For information regarding ticket pricing and seating for the upcoming 2026-27 season, visit www.theglensfallssymphony.org, call the Symphony office at (518) 793-1348, or stop by the office, upstairs in the LARAC Gallery building: 7 Lapham Place in Glens Falls. Office hours are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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