This program opens with Samuel Barber's Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance. As the program expands we’ll hear from a young artist whose technique has been described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “ poised and monstrously talented.” Benjamin Beilman brings his passionate performance to a Violin Concerto by Higdon; a work awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music and packed with dialogue between the violin and the orchestra. The final piece, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 remains one of the composer’s most popular works. The emotional depth of the piece explores the “spirit of man” with a quality that is both uplifting and encouraging.