Armstrong is the first music director since the unexpected death of Michael Morgan in 2021.

“This work is a fabulous example of Perry’s modernist style,” says LCO music director Orlando Cela.

A rare opportunity to hear Margaret Bonds’s Montgomery Variations. Composed in 1964 and dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., the work is based on events and ideas in the Civil Rights Movement.

In her role as chief conductor, Alsop curates and conducts a three-week stretch of programs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Embedded within that residency will be the Breaking Barriers Festival.