Ankush Kumar Bahl, conductor
Jack Rago, timpani 

RESPIGHI: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3
TIMPANI CONCERTO TBD
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1, “Classical”
BRAHMS: Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn 

The musicians of the Omaha Symphony present a program that serves as a collective hat-tip—composers of the 19th and 20th centuries bring their own takes to celebration of music from a bygone era. Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances resulted from the composer’s obsessive study of 16th-century lute music. Of his “Classical” Symphony, Prokofiev said “It seemed to me that if Haydn had lived into this era, he would have kept his own style while absorbing things from what was new in music. That’s the kind of symphony I wanted to write.” Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn draws from an obscure woodwind quintet that was mistakenly attributed to the Father of the Symphony. Amid this programming, Principal Timpani Jack Rago makes his first appearance as soloist in front of the Omaha Symphony.