During the 2012/13 season, we turn a lens on music that explores how rivers—forever intertwined with our past, present and future—reflect the full spectrum of the human experience.

Rivers have been linked with humanity from the dawn of time. They have flowed through our lives and our imagination.

Rivers function as boundaries, separating one nation from another and preventing migration. They are highways of communication, joining one nation to another, encouraging trade and the transportation of goods and ideas from one part of the globe to another.

Rivers provide food and a means of life: fish, animals, crops and, above all, water.

Civilizations grow up alongside rivers. Rivers become sacred or symbolic, embodying tribes, nations and entire cultures.

Rivers lead to exploration and discovery. Rivers overflow and create terrifying disasters. Rivers are enjoyed for play, sport, pleasure. Rivers ripple, creating sounds which have inspired musicians throughout history and civilizations.

The 2012/13 RIVERS exploration includes a broad range of concerts, spanning the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Center Presents season.

THE GREAT FLOOD
Film by Bill Morrison
Music by Bill Frisell
Film and music exploring the tragic 1927 Mississippi fl ood, one of the most destructive in U.S. history.

RACHMANINOV AND SIBELIUS
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder conductor
Garrick Ohlsson piano
Sir Mark Elder returns to lead Dvořák’s macabre tone poem, The Water Goblin.

BOULEZ AND BRONFMAN
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Pierre Boulez conductor
Yefi m Bronfman piano
Pierre Boulez conducts Messiaen’s Chronochromie, which depicts bird calls and high mountain streams.

THE SAINT PAUL
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
An afternoon of water-inspired chamber music, including Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Cage’s Water Walk, Takemitsu’s Rain Coming, Knussen’s Coursing and more.

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV SHEHERAZADE
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Mei-Ann Chen conductor
Featuring Florence Price’s Mississippi River, portraying the river’s history in music, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s vivid tone poem, Sheherazade.

BEETHOVEN 6
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Juanjo Mena conductor
Peter Serkin piano
A program filled with rivers, including Villa-Lobos’ Amazonas, Takemitsu’s riverrun and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

REVUELTAS
LA NOCHE DE LOS MAYAS
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Carlos Miguel Prieto conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet piano
Central and South American rivers are the focus, from the first peoples of Mexico in La Noche de los Mayas to pre-Colombian Argentinians in the Panambí Suite.

FRAY PLAYS MOZART
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden conductor
David Fray piano
Mason Bates’ Liquid Interface explores water in its various states, from frozen to evaporated.

MUTI AND ANDSNES
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti conductor
Leif Ove Andsnes piano
Riccardo Muti leads this adventurous orchestral interlude from Wagner’s famed Ring cycle.