What does an artist leave behind? A final work is rarely just an ending; it can be a summation, a question, or the beginning of another conversation. In this evening, we explore how artistic voices become interwoven across time, as composers’ final reflections continue to speak long after they were first heard.

Aaron Copland’s Night Thoughts, one of the composer’s final works, opens the evening in a world of introspection and quiet contemplation in homage to fellow American composer Charles Ives. This follows with Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Suite for Woodwind Quintet, her penultimate composition before her death, revealing the inventive spirit of one of America’s most original modernist voices. At the heart of the programme is Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, his final completed orchestral work, written in memory of Manon Gropius and dedicated to “the memory of an angel”—a work that transforms grief into profound beauty.

Presented by the YST Orchestral Institute under the baton of Principal Conductor Jason Lai, and featuring YST Head of Strings Professor Qian Zhou on violin, Associate Professor Ning An on piano, guest musicians Gaolat Quintet and narrator Joseph N Straus, Last Words offers a rare opportunity to experience these deeply personal final statements in one single evening.

PROGRAMME

JOSEPH N STRAUS, narrator

AARON COPLAND
Night Thoughts

NING AN, piano

RUTH CRAWFORD SEEGER
Suite for Woodwind Quintet

GAOLAT QUINTET
RACHEL HO, flute
GRACE TAN, oboe
STEPHANIE TAN, clarinet
KEE RUIHAN, bassoon
XAVIER TAN, horn

ALBAN BERG
Violin Concerto

QIAN ZHOU, violin
YST ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE
JASON LAI, conductor