New Philharmonia Orchestra Presents Lenny and Lohannes

It’s all about Lenny and Johannes. That’s Leonard Bernstein and Johannes Brahms, of course.

The New Philharmonia Orchestra, under the direction of Ronald Knudsen, are bringing “Local & Imported: Lenny and Johannes” on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 1, at 3 p.m. to the First Baptist Church in Newton.

The program includes Bernstein’s “Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety” with pianist Randall Hodgkinson and “Symphony No. 2 in D, Opus 73” by Brahms.

WCRB FM host and ArtsFuse contributor Steve Elman and pianist Randall Hodgkinson begin the program with “A short conversation about Bernstein: The Age of Anxiety.”

Reserved seat tickets at $48.00, $37.00 (adults); $43.00, $34.00 (seniors) and $10 (students) are available online. The First Baptist Church in Newton is wheelchair accessible.

Pianist Randall Hodgkinson, who will be the featured solo pianist in the Bernstein piece, won the International American Music Competition which was sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation.

According to a press release, Symphony No. 2 in D, Opus 73 of Brahms was composed in 1877, in Austria. It is a well-known fact that Brahms put off allowing a symphony to be brought to performance until his forty-third year, so aware was he of the giant shadow of Beethoven. But once he had broken the ice, he did not hesitate to try again. This symphony is scored for two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.