The Vail Series presents pianist, Lara Downes

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” pianist Lara Downes reimagines this masterpiece, in collaboration with Puerto Rican composer/arranger Edmar Colon, in a new arrangement that reflects America’s multicultural sounds. 

This Billboard Chart-topping artist, producer, curator, and arts activist will be joined on stage by the Denison Symphony Orchestra and musicians from Denison’s Jazz, Percussion, and American Roots programs.

Pianist, cultural catalyst, and New York Times Sunday Crossword clue, Lara Downes has been called “a musical ray of hope” by NBC News and “an explorer whose imagination is fired by bringing notice to the underrepresented and forgotten” (The Log Journal). She was honored as 2022 Classical Woman of the Year by Performance Today. 

In February 1924, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was premiered in New York City, capturing the exuberant essence of what the composer called “a musical kaleidoscope of America—our vast melting pot…” 100 years later, iconoclastic American pianist Lara Downes is reimagining Gershwin’s masterpiece to reflect on a century of immigration and transformation, commissioning a radical new arrangement by the Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón that reverberates with the multicultural, kaleidoscopic sounds of America in our own time. 

Visit here to learn more.

Tickets are free for Denison students, faculty, and staff. 

A limited number of tickets are available for public sale on a first come, first served basis at $20 each. A limited number of Vail Season Passes are also available for all six concerts for $80 (visit “Passes” at the top of the ticketing page).

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The Vail Series was endowed in 1979 by a generous gift from the late Mary and Foster McGaw in honor of Jeanne Vail, class of 1946. Just as it was intended to do, the Series enriches the artistic experience of the entire Denison community. Programmed creatively with the mindful pursuit of learning across traditional academic boundaries, more than 100 individual Vail Series artists have found their way to Denison’s classrooms and stages, but that doesn’t include the dozens of ensembles or full symphony orchestras that have played here over the years.