MTT leads the San Francisco Symphony in two concert programs dedicated to Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, celebrating the 100th anniversary of its performance this year. Both programs pair Stravinsky’s ballet with lesser known music that reflects the work’s creative roots and legacy. MTT first worked with Stravinsky as a student in Southern California.

The program on June 19 and 20 traces the influences of The Rite of Spring into Stravinsky’s later neoclassical and serial works. Violinist Gil Shaham joins MTT and the Orchestra in the Violin Concerto, and MTT conducts the rarely heard ballet score Agon.

A second program on June 21 and 22 explores the folkloric inspirations of The Rite of Spring, as MTT leads members of the SFS and Russian folk music specialists The Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble in Les Noces. The Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble also performs a selection of traditional Russian folk songs.

MTT on All Things Considered as NPR marks The Rite of Spring‘s centenary with “100 Years After The Riot, The ‘Rite’ Remains.”