As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we invite audiences to experience the nation’s story through the powerful convergence of words, history, and music.

In this special benefit concert, musicians of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra join acclaimed historian and narrator Clay Jenkinson for America Coming of Age - an evocative exploration of three extraordinary American voices: Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry David Thoreau.

Through Jenkinson’s vivid narration, these thinkers emerge not simply as figures from the past, but as complicated, searching voices in an ongoing American conversation, voices asking what it means to build a nation, to define freedom, to engage with nature, and to imagine America’s future.

Music becomes another voice in that conversation. Works performed by musicians of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra will illuminate the eras, ideas, landscapes, and emotions surrounding Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Thoreau, creating a rich tapestry of sound and story. Together, the spoken word and music will carry us across centuries from the founding ideals of Jefferson, through Roosevelt’s vision of a nation coming into its modern power, to Thoreau’s enduring call to live deliberately and remain attentive to the natural world.

At once concert, historical journey, and celebration of American writing, America Coming of Age asks us to listen anew to the voices that helped shape the country and to consider what their words might mean for America at 250.

Join us for an inspiring evening where history is heard, music tells a story, and the American imagination takes center stage.