Santa Monica Symphony presents “Voices of Strength”

One cello takes on the orchestra. One symphony summons a nation. Shostakovich and Dvořák launch a season of unforgettable voices.
The season opens with two contrasting expressions of resistance. In Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, resistance is personal and immediate, expressed through a solo voice that confronts and pushes against the orchestra with urgency and intensity. In Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, resistance takes on a different character, emerging through a broader symphonic voice shaped by struggle, national identity, and emotional resilience. Together, these works reveal how the same idea can take radically different musical forms, from the individual voice to the collective symphonic expression.