Yale Symphony Orchestra to Perform SPIRITS OF AMERICA AT 250

The Yale Symphony Orchestra will continue its 2026-27 season with "Spirits of America at 250," a special concert on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 7:30 pm in Woolsey Hall. YSO Director Elizabeth Askren leads the program, with guest conductor Thomas C. Duffy, and is joined by Grammy-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird and the Greater New Haven Community Chorus, directed by Alysoun Kegel.

'We are all haunted. We live with the ghosts of our ancestors, the spirits of the natural world, and the specters of our choices and their consequences. These presences accompany us individually and collectively, shaping our memories, identities, and aspirations. The Yale Symphony Orchestra's Spirits of America at 250 concert explores the many hauntings that animate our nation. [...] As our country concludes its 250th anniversary, these works invite us both as individuals and citizens to listen to the spirits that inhabit our lives and continue to shape us. Who have we been? Who are we today? Who will we choose to become?' - Elizabeth Askren, Director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and Associate Professor Adjunct at the Yale School of Music

The program features:

Joan Tower - Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1
Margaret Bonds - Montgomery Variations (1, 2, 4, and 7)
Kinds of Kings - Nine Mothers, Mvmt 3
Thomas C. Duffy - Corpus Callosum
Gabriela Lena Frank - Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra
Charles Ives - New England Holidays: Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day

The concert is part of the YSO's 2026-27 season, which continues with:
February 13, 2027 - Heroes and Dreams: Around the World in 1894-95
April 3, 2027 - Rome and Leningrad: Destruction and Transcendence
April 24, 2027 - Death and Transfiguration, featuring the Yale Glee Club (Dir. Jeffrey Douma)
May 21, 2027 - Commencement Concert, celebrating the orchestra's graduating seniors