In Pursuit of the Sublime

Journey into the sublime as the University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by assistant conductor and graduate teaching assistant, Sam Cooper, illuminates the beauty hidden within nature’s power. The evening begins with Florence Price’s The Oak, a work that unfolds gradually, revealing its strength through steady, evolving motion. Franz Doppler’s Fantaisie pastorale hongroise follows, featuring flutist and CSU Concerto Competition winner Karin Sotillo, in a performance full of brightness, breadth, and folk-infused virtuosity. The program concludes with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, where calm, turbulence, and a renewed spirit of gratitude arise from our encounters with nature. Together, these works reveal how resilience and awe shape our relationship to the world around us, and how music guides us, again and again, in the pursuit of the sublime.

This performance serves as Sam Cooper’s recital in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting.