Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 4 PM
Stewart Theatre, Talley Student Union, Raleigh, NC
Peter Askim, Conductor
Featuring the World Premiere of music by Australian composer Chris Williams
Program:
Chris Williams: swift, slow; sweet, sour; dazzle, dim; (a remembrance) (World Premiere)
Salina Fisher: Galaxy (US Premiere)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F, Op. 93
The Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra kicks off the 10th year of its Premieres Project, in which the NC State/Raleigh Civic Orchestras have presented a world premiere on every concert.
Highlighting music from the Oceania and the southern hemisphere with music by Salina Fisher (New Zealand) and the world premiere of music by Chris Williams (Australia), the concert explores emotion and instrumental color through unique geographical and musical voices.
Fisher’s Galaxy reflects the awe at the beauty she felt seeing the stunning star-lit sky over her native Akaroa Harbour. She writes: “The overwhelming beauty of something so distant seems to evoke a sense of wonder and melancholy within me,” and this sentiment is reflected memorably in the shimmering textures and lyrical writing of her composition.
Williams, a Doctoral student at Duke University, will open the tenth season of world premieres with a remembrance of Australian composer Nigel Butterly (1935-2022). The music – pensive, colorful, and lyrical – is a fitting tribute to a beloved teacher, mentor, and friend.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s luminous and exuberant Symphony No. 8 concludes the program with its irrepressible joy – reflecting the excitement of this landmark achievement: ten years of musical exploration and innovation!
Free admission for NC State Students, $10 for faculty, staff, and seniors, and $12 for the general public
Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 4 PM with post-show talk
Stewart Theatre, Talley Student Union, Raleigh, NC
Stephanie Ann Boyd’s Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals
Presented by NC State LIVE
Peter Askim, Conductor
Stephanie Ann Boyd, Composer
Ryan Lindveit, Composer
Dr. Erin McKenney, NC State Department of Applied Ecology
Featuring the World Premiere of “Red Wolf” by Stephanie Ann Boyd, based on the endangered species which survives only in North Carolina
“Arrestingly poetic”
-Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Animals – real, imagined, and endangered – take center stage in this concert focused on our relationship to the natural world.
Join us for the Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals, a vibrant new orchestral work by acclaimed American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd, commissioned in partnership with NC State LIVE and played by NC State’s own Raleigh Civic Symphony under the direction of Peter Askim. Boyd, celebrated for her melodic explorations of women’s memoirs and the natural world, has crafted a powerful work that honors a menagerie of animals facing extinction and remembers those already lost, from the distinct calls of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and Blue Whale to the vital hum of Honey Bees. For the Raleigh performance, Boyd will create a new movement focusing on an animal near and dear to our Wolfpack hearts: the American red wolf.
Red wolves, blue deer, local songbirds, and mythical creatures
In addition to Boyd’s world premiere, the program will include works by Gabriela Ortiz, Ryan Lindveit, and Stravinsky. From the Kauyumari or “blue deer,” which serves as a spiritual guide to the Huichol people of Mexico, to the bird calls of the Great Smoky Mountains, to Stravinsky’s epic and beloved Firebird (featured in Disney’s “Fantasia 2000”), this concert explores the way that animals shape our imaginations and our world.
This world premiere performance is presented in partnership with NC State LIVE and NC State’s Department of Performing Arts and Technology.
Program:
Stephanie Ann Boyd: Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals
Stephanie Ann Boyd: Red Wolf (World Premiere)
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari
Ryan Lindveit: Desire Lines
Stravinsky: Selections from The Firebird
Public: $25-30, Faculty/Staff: $25, NC State Students: $10
America at 250
Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 4 PM
Stewart Theatre, Talley Student Union, Raleigh, NC
Peter Askim, Conductor
Naseem Alatrash, Composer and Cellist
Featuring the World Premiere of a new cello concerto composed and performed by Naseem Alatrash of the GRAMMY-winning Turtle Island String Quartet
An award-winning cellist with “a particularly lustrous tone” (Chicago Tribune), Naseem Alatrash’s performance style includes a mix of improvisation and traditional melodies, with a focus on traditional Arabic music, contemporary classical music, and Jazz. His new work, written for the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra, is a reflection on his unique musical journey, blending his global perspectives with America’s true classical music: jazz.
Free admission for NC State Students, $10 for faculty, staff, and seniors, and $12 for the general public
Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 4 PM
Stewart Theatre, Talley Student Union, Raleigh, NC
Peter Askim, Conductor
Jeff Scott, Composer
Mary Elizabeth Bowden, Trumpet
With NC State Faculty Guest Speakers and Panelists
Featuring the World Premiere of GRAMMY-winning composer Jeff Scott’s new work for trumpet soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden
Composer Jeff Scott, familiar to our audiences from his Sinfonietta of Dreams (which celebrated Martin Luther King’s Rocky Mount “I Have a Dream” speech in 2018) returns to the NC State/Raleigh Civic Orchestras, this time with a GRAMMY under his arm!
Marking the culmination of the orchestras’ project of 10 years of performing a World Premiere on every program, Scott’s new work is an exploration of America’s musical history in the form of a trumpet concerto, featuring virtuoso performer Mary Elizabeth Bowden.
Bowden writes: “This new concerto will be a worthy addition to the classical canon that also reimagines and expands the possibilities of a centuries-old tradition for today’s ears. Blues, Jazz, and the American symphonic tradition come together in this soulful work retracing our collective history, and looking ahead to the future.”
A highly in-demand soloist, Bowden is praised for her “splendid, brilliant” playing (Gramophone Magazine) and her “pure, refined, and warm” tone (American Record Guide). A Gold Medal Global Music Award Winner, Opus Klassik Nominee, and Yamaha Performing Artist, she works diligently to establish a new repertoire for the trumpet through creative, collaborative commissioning projects and award-winning albums.
Join us for this celebration of our ten year World Premiere project, and of the innovation and co-creation that typifies America’s music!
Free admission for NC State Students, $10 for faculty, staff, and seniors, and $12 for the general public
