ProMusica Wraps Up Season With Guest Pianist Aaron Diehl and a New Commission
Performances run May 10-11, 2025.
By: Stephi Wild Apr. 02, 2025
ProMusica Chamber Orchestra will welcome Columbus-native and acclaimed pianist and composer, Aaron Diehl, for their season finale May 10-11, 2025, at the Southern Theatre. Led by Music Director David Danzmayr, Aaron Diehl & Rhapsody will feature the orchestra's 72nd commission and the Midwest premiere of Being and Becoming, Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra*, a new work written for Diehl by composer Michael Schachtercommemorating the centennial of Gershwin's iconic Rhapsody in Blue.
Schachter's lively Rhapsody, co-commissioned by ProMusica along with Carnegie Hall and
The Knights, will be a centerpiece of the program, showcasing its dynamic energy and vibrant character. The piece is an old-school rhapsody—an extension of a musical lineage spanning classical and contemporary influences—in a single-movement that is tuneful and vernacular, driven more by impulse than by structure.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Columbus' own Aaron Diehl for our 46th season ending,” said Janet Chen, ProMusica's CEO. “Aaron's debut with ProMusica being the premiere of our 72nd commission of Michael Schachter's Rhapsody, is incredibly meaningful for the orchestra especially at a time when we think about the American styles and influences on orchestral music over the past 100 years. We are proud to present this premiere to Columbus audiences to close an exciting year.”
Diehl was born and raised in Columbus and has now garnered attention across the globe. Diehl got his start performing with the Jazz Arts Group's Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra and has since performed with musical giants such as Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tyshawn Sorey, and Philip Glass. He has also been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra, working with conductors like Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, and Alan Gilbert.
Still's powerful Darker America will kick off the evening, followed by Schachter's Rhapsody, which had its world premiere in October 2024 by the New York based chamber ensemble, The Knights at Carnegie Hall. The second half of the program includes Brahms deeply romantic Symphony No. 3, completing an unofficial Brahms Cycle for the orchestra. Brahms symphonies are not typically played by chamber orchestras, making this is a unique achievement for ProMusica. The evening concludes with the brief but lively Hungarian Dance. No. 1, also by Brahms, bringing ProMusica's 46thseason to a powerful close.
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