Pulitzer Prize and three-time Grammy-winner Jennifer Higdon will join MYS for an artistic residency and to attend the March 5 concert, during which MYS will perform the West Coast premiere of Higdon’s Cold Mountain Suite. Winner of the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2016, Cold Mountain debuted as an opera, telling the story of a Confederate soldier grappling with conflicts of violence, love, and redemption. The piece was co-commissioned by MYS through New Music for America in cooperation with The League of American Orchestras and a consortium of 15 professional orchestras.

Accompanying the Cold Mountain Suite are four selections from Margaret Allison Bonds’ The Montgomery Variations (Decision, March, Dawn in Dixie, and Benediction). Based on the African American Spiritual “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” and edited by John Michael Cooper, these variations focus on the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, and resistance to segregationist policies in the Jim Crow era.

Audiences will hear MYS students play the world premiere of a piece by student composer Margot Pullen as part of The Authentic Voice commissioning series. This project provides direct representation of young composers and conductors within the orchestra.

One of the winners of MYS’ annual Concerto Competition will be showcased, displaying mastery of challenging and mature solo repertoire accompanied by a full symphonic ensemble. MYS Sinfonietta Orchestra will also perform.