In 1892, Antonín Dvořák was appointed director of the New York Conservatory of Music – with the task of developing an American national style. His Symphony “From the New World” captures the vastness of the landscape and evokes the songs of both indigenous and African American populations. However, the true father of American music is considered to be Charles Ives, whose enigmatic work The Unanswered Question was far ahead of its time. Dmitri Shostakovich’s expressive Violin Concerto No. 1, with its echoes of Jewish music, opens the programme, with our First Concertmaster, Daishin Kashimoto, as soloist. On the podium: Lahav Shani.