Seong-Jin Cho

While on a 25-city tour of the US in 1928, Maurice Ravel took what would become a pivotal trip to Harlem with George Gershwin as his guide. The sounds of the upper Manhattan jazz clubs wove their way into the French composer’s brain and found their ways into his two beloved piano concertos, filled with syncopated rhythms and bluesy riffs. Rising piano star Seong-Jin Cho does double duty, joining Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil for both of these vibrant works. Each of the concertos is paired with a swinging symphonic work by jazz great Duke Ellington: the sonic neighborhood tour of Harlem and his ambitious telling of the history of Black Americans in Black, Brown and Beige.