Defiant Dreams

The Festival's second concert of the season centers voices of resistance and cultural continuity, exploring the act of dreaming as a form of defiance. Leilehua Lanzilotti's "of light and stone" (West Coast premiere) honors Indigenous Hawaiian identity, inspired by Nā Lani 'Ehā–the "Heavenly Four" of Hawaiian royalty. James Lee III's "Shades of Unbroken Dreams" (West Coast premiere), featuring pianist Alexandra Dariescu, evokes the cadence and moral force of Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision. Sarah Hennies's "The Grain House" (Festival Creative Lab Commission / world premiere) pushes orchestral boundaries with characteristic inventiveness.