BMG Classics 2022

BMG Foundation Classics 2022

Ears Around the World

G20 Orchestra, East meets West

Performed By the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Conducted by William Garfield Walker

July 25th 2022

A wonderful evening of classical music at London’s iconic St. John’s Smith Square brought together sounds and melodies of Saudi Arabia from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The event was part of a series of classical concerts to “inspire a wordless dialogue between East and West and to spawn a greater understanding of culture and tolerance between East and West.”

The music, based on a series of traditional melodies from the Kingdom, was arranged to be performed by a Western classical orchestra.

A rich program was conducted by the emerging young American musician, and chief conductor of the Nova Orchester Wien (NOW!), William Garfield Walker.

Among the pieces, performed during the event, was “Anthem of Nations,” commissioned in 2020 during the Kingdom’s chairmanship of the G20 and “written as a metaphor for strength in union as well a tribute to member countries.”

The evening continued with Johan Sebastian Bach’s “Piano Concerto in F Minor BWV 1056” performed by Syrian-British pianist Riyad Nicolas, and “Hymn,” by American composer Charles Ives, a piece known as one of the great masterpieces of string orchestral literature.

The concert ended with Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for String,” conducted by Walker.

BMG Concert 2022