The two-time Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony, led by music director David Alan Miller, will perform alongside cellist Sterling Eliott and the world premiere of composer Sam Wu in their Passion & Power: Brahms & Elgar program. The Symphony will perform two shows in Troy on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Saratoga Springs Nov. 8 at 3 p.m.
Acclaimed young cellist Sterling Eliott will join the Symphony for Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Composed in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I, Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto reflects a world changed by conflict and loss.
Eliott first took up cello at three-years-old to complete his family’s string quartet. Now, he is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, was named a BBC New Generation Artist in 2024 and has performed with many of the nation’s leading orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and more.
The program will also include the world premiere of “All This Is the Music of Waters” by Australian composer and conductor Sam Wu. The piece is inspired by his three-week residency at Zion National Park in Feb. 2026 and explores the Virgin River that has carved Zion Canyon millions of years.
Wu’s compositions have explored subjects like climate science, urban planning and search of life beyond Earth. His pieces have been performed by orchestras in Philadelphia, Minnesota, Shanghai and his hometown of Melbourne. Wu has degrees from Harvard University, The Juilliard School and Rice University and has been honored with the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and prizes from Harvard and Julliard.
Aaron Copland’s Orchestral Variations and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 will round out the concert. The Albany Symphony will return for a third performance on Nov. 8 at the Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs.
“This is an absolutely sumptuous program, filled with some of the most passionate, achingly beautiful music ever written,” said Miller. “I promise you an evening of absolutely gorgeous music that will stay with you for a very long time.”
The Albany Symphony will hold an open rehearsal at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Nov. 6 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and an event titled “Crescendo Club: What Does a Conductor Do Anyway?” on Nov. 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
View all event information here.
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