MusicaNova Orchestra to Present CALMING WATERS: SIBELIUS & FRANK in May

MusicaNova Orchestra will close its 2025–2026 season with CALMING WATERS: SIBELIUS & FRANK, a program centered on lyricism, reflection, and storytelling. The performance takes place Saturday, May 9 at 7:00 PM at Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway. Tickets start at $32 and are available now.

Known for its thoughtful and unconventional programming, MusicaNova brings together a range of voices and perspectives in this season finale. Rather than focusing on familiar repertoire, CALMING WATERS: SIBELIUS & FRANK pairs a major symphonic work with contemporary and culturally diverse compositions, offering audiences a broader view of what orchestral music can be.

Lyricism connects all five works on the program, each with elements of spirituality or introspection. Sibelius described his Sixth Symphony as offering listeners “pure spring water,” in contrast to the more heavily orchestrated style of his contemporaries. The piece remains one of his most understated and distinctive works.

Gabriela Lena Frank's Concertino Cusqueño draws on both Western and Andean musical traditions, combining a Benjamin Britten-inspired timpani motif with Ccollanan María, a sacred melody from Cusco.

Carter Pann's My Cross, performed here in the world premiere of its orchestral version, features internationally renowned saxophonist and ASU professor Christopher Creviston. The work has a more accessible, lyrical character, standing in contrast to Victoria Polevá's Turn the River, a response to the war in Ukraine based on a folk song that has become a symbol of resistance since 2014. The piece carries a sense of mourning, but ultimately turns toward hope, reflecting the composer's desire to “change the course of this river… back from sadness to joy.”

The program also includes a new work, Water Moon by Singaporean Composer/ MusicaNova Composition Fellow Cheng Jin Koh. Inspired by Buddhist ideas of enlightenment, and drawing from the Chinese proverb “flower in the mirror, moon on the water,” Water Moon reflects on beauty that can be perceived but never fully grasped.