The rhythm and harmony of Samuel Barber’s string quartet (encompassing the powerfully moving “Adagio for Strings”) and Lembit Beecher’s heartfelt Stories From My Grandmother contain threads anchored in the past but driven by a new energy that propels their musical past into the present and future. George Gershwin brings all of this together in his 1925 Piano Concerto, fusing Jewish and Eastern-European folk and Klezmer traditions with African and Caribbean influences in a full-fledged celebration of America’s truly new music: jazz! Experience this in a new chamber version arranged and performed by the astounding Kit Armstrong!