Cassie Pilgrim Premieres Chen Yi’s Oboe Concerto

A journey, years in the making. In 2020, having bonded over a shared cultural heritage rooted in southern China, SPCO Principal Oboe Cassie Pilgrim gave the world premiere of composer Chen Yi's Elegy for Solo Oboe — a mournful response to the ongoing pandemic that we livestreamed from an empty hall. In “Melodies from Home”, her newest oboe concerto written for Cassie, Chen Yi returns to the universal exploration of family and culture, of connection and nostalgia. Led by conductor Cosette Justo Valdés in her SPCO debut, this program offers an escape into serenity through its soft, woodwind melodies, pastoral strings and wondrous harp.