Jamie Phillips conducts Bernstein

Happy birthday Lenny! 2018 marks 100 years since the birth of America’s most iconic classical conductor, composer, activist and teacher. To celebrate, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is assembling a vivid musical portrait of Bernstein’s manifold talents. His score for the classic musical On the Town sees three sailors on shore leave set on experiencing New York’s buzzing nightlife. Halil, performed by Aldo Baerten, principal flute at the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, was written in memory of an Israeli flautist killed during the Yom Kippur war. Conducting Divertimento, Jamie Phillips gets to experiment with Bernstein’s box of orchestral colours. The final touch to this musical portrait is provided by The Age of Anxiety for orchestra and solo piano, Bernstein’s uncanny depiction of post-war modernity in symphonic form.