Chris Thile, mandolin

Virginia Arts Festival

The Chris Thile with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra performance originally scheduled for May 20, 2023 has been rescheduled to June 13, 2024.

These performances have been postponed while Chris Thile recovers from vocal strain related to a recent illness.

All tickets for the original performance will be honored, so please hold on to your tickets. If you are unable to attend the new performance date, please contact your original point of purchase.

Here's a program to delight the imagination, tickle the funnybone, and spur conversation long after the last note rings out!

GRAMMY-winning mandolinist Chris Thile's witty new "narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra" – co-commissioned by Virginia Arts Festival and Virginia Symphony Orchestra – tells, plays, and sings the true story of when Thile "attempted to impress a Starbucks executive and accidentally met Carrie Fisher as a result." Thile has captivated audiences with always fresh-sounding music that ranges from Baroque to bluegrass and beyond. Don't miss this Festival favorite as he returns to join this thrilling concert! Virginia Symphony Orchestra's Music Director Eric Jacobsen rounds out the concert with Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, bringing the mysteries of the Arabian Nights to opulent, gorgeous life; and Virginia Arts Festival Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery's Starburst is a string-driven, pulse-pounding piece that imagines the birth of a galaxy in brilliantly hued exploding stars.

Program

Jessie Montgomery—Starburst
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov—Scheherazade
Chris Thile—ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra by Chris Thile