Symphony Concert by the University of Würzburg Academic Orchestra

Performed by the Academic Orchestra of the University of Würzburg, Germany
A performance featured as part of the 2025 Franco-German Fortnight in Occitanie

The performance by this university ensemble—founded in 1955 and composed of students from various faculties at this partner institution of the University of Montpellier (both of which are members of the CHARM-EU European University Alliance consortium and the Coimbra Group)—which is touring France this year, will include works by Aaron Copland, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The main themes of this symphony concert in Montpellier, conducted by Markus Popp¹, are individual and civic freedom (Aaron Copland), exile and the quest for freedom (Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Sergei Rachmaninoff), as well as social criticism and biographical identity (Korngold). These themes highlight the quest for freedom and the challenges faced by the composers in their respective historical contexts, placing this program within a broader contemporary context, as all three composers have ties to the United States, a symbol of freedom in the 20th century.

The composer Copland wrote “Fanfare for the Common Man” to celebrate the “century of the ordinary citizen.” Korngold and Rachmaninoff, who would later become naturalized citizens, had sought refuge in the United States to escape the political constraints of their respective countries of birth, Austria and Russia. And this program raises the question of whether Korngold and Rachmaninoff would find the same freedom in America today as they did back then. While Korngold regained his personal freedom in Hollywood, his artistic creativity was limited by the demands of the film industry. And it was after his forced exile that Rachmaninoff celebrated his homeland in his Second Symphony.

Free admission, subject to availability
(donations will be collected at the exit via a "passing the hat" collection).

Subject to availability · Registration required

1. Markus Popp has been the conductor of the University of Würzburg Academic Orchestra since 2006. He has worked at several theaters in Germany and has been invited to participate in prestigious productions, most recently a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera *Aida*, which premiered at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg in 2024; for 2026, he is working on a production of Richard Wagner’s *Tannhäuser*. ↩︎