Led by Music Director and Conductor Elizabeth Schulze, Voices of the Past brings together four composers whose music reflects personal history, cultural identity, and the evolving language of classical music. Spanning more than two centuries, the program invites listeners into a conversation between tradition and reinvention, where familiar forms are reconsidered through individual experience and time.

The concert opens with Antonín Dvořák’s Wind Serenade, a warmly expressive work that draws on older musical forms while incorporating the sounds and rhythms of everyday life in the composer’s world. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Sinfonietta No. 1, written when he was in his early twenties, follows with energy and assurance, reimagining Baroque influences through the lens of mid-twentieth-century American musical life.

At the center of the program is Louis W. Ballard’s Incident at Wounded Knee, a profound and rarely performed work that reflects on Native American history, resilience, and spiritual connection. A composer of Quapaw-Cherokee heritage, Ballard used the structure of classical music to guide audiences into a sound world shaped by ritual, conflict, and hope. His work stands as both a personal statement and a broader reflection on memory and cultural survival.

The program concludes with Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 64, Tempora Mutantur (“Times Change”), a work full of surprise, wit, and invention. Haydn’s constant experimentation with form and expression underscores the central idea of the evening: that music, like society, is shaped by time and circumstance, yet remains a powerful means of connection.

“This concert offers a more intimate connection to our musicians, with smaller ensembles and more solo writing for individual members of the group,” Schulze said. “At the same time the music offers a connection to over 250 years of classical tradition – an incredible journey through an ever-changing sound world expressing human experience at its most personal and its most universal.”

Saturday evening ticket holders are also invited to Inspirations, a complimentary pre-concert gathering at Veva’s on the Potomac, located across the street from The Maryland Theatre. The event includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine, and live entertainment, and is designed to allow guests to enjoy a relaxed start to the evening at their own pace.

Concerts will take place at The Maryland Theatre, 21 South Potomac Street, Hagerstown. Tickets are available at tickets.marylandsymphony.org or by calling the box office at (301) 797-4000.