Elgar’s Enigma Variations

Sarah Kwak, Violin, Janet & Richard Geary Concertmaster

COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Ballade in A minor, Op. 33
CHEN GANG & HE ZHENHAO The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
ELGAR Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, “Enigma”

Esteemed violinist and Oregon Symphony concertmaster Sarah Kwak performs The Butterfly Lovers concerto, a blending of the sounds of Chinese folk music with a Western orchestra in one of the most famous orchestral pieces by any Chinese composer. Elgar’s loving portrait of his family and friends in rural Worcestershire, the “Enigma” Variations, joins a piece by Elgar’s protégé Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, now being rediscovered after long neglect.