Cape Symphony: A New Era

Masterpiece 1 Our season opens with American spirit, youthful brilliance, and timeless orchestral mastery. Join us to usher in a new era of exceptional performances at Cape Symphony! We begin with John Williams’ stirring arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by George Walker’s bold and dynamic Pageant and Proclamation, commissioned by the New Jersey Symphony in 1997. Rising star Sofia Hernández-Williams, just 11 years old, takes the stage for Saint-Saëns’ passionate and virtuosic Cello Concerto No. 1, a favorite of virtuoso cellists since its first performance in Paris in 1873. After an intermission, Brahms’s triumphant Symphony No. 1 brings the performance to a powerful close. Ticketholders are invited to a preconcert talk about the program, led by Assistant Conductor Joe Marchio. The talk begins one hour before the concert. Program The Star-Spangled Banner ARR. JOHN WILLIAMS Pageant and Proclamation GEORGE WALKER Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 1 in C Minor JOHANNES BRAHMS Sofia Hernández-Williams, Cello Sofia Hernández-Williams studies at Worcester’s Joy of Music Program and Boston’s Project String Training Education Program and has attended chamber music programs at Rivers Conservatory and Groton Hill Music. In 2024, she studied with Dr. Anzel Gerber in Vienna, Austria. Sofia is a member of the Repertory Orchestra at Boston Youth Symphonies and principal cellist of the Joy of Music Youth Orchestra. The list of her competition accolades is growing quickly. Sofia made her concert debut in 2024, performing Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with Worcester’s Seven Hills Symphony, and gave a second performance of the concerto with the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, she performed the final movement of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C as a soloist with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra as part of their Musical Superheroes concert. Beyond the cello, Sofia enjoys mathematics, gardening, writing, piano, voice, and tinkering with her father’s violin-making tools. David Charles Abell, Conductor David Charles Abell is an internationally renowned conductor whose career spans classical music, opera, film, and musical theatre. Known for his theatrical yet disciplined style, he has collaborated with leading artists including Bryn Terfel, Diana Damrau, Judi Dench, Idina Menzel, and Josh Groban. He has conducted many of the world’s top orchestras, among them the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Atlanta Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Boston Pops. A regular at the BBC Proms, his televised appearances include Sondheim at 80 and the War Horse Prom. In opera, he has worked with Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Opera Philadelphia, while in musical theatre he is celebrated for Les Misérables’ 10th and 25th Anniversary Concerts and French premieres of Stephen Sondheim’s works. Honoring his mentor Leonard Bernstein, he has conducted Songfest, West Side Story, and major Bernstein tributes with orchestras worldwide. His recordings range from Puccini excerpts to complete cast albums of Miss Saigon and Man of La Mancha.