López, Childs, and Mahler: Hope in the Heart of Exile 2025-2026
This program brings together three contrasting works, each exploring the theme of hope in the face of hardship. López and Childs delve into the pain of displacement and loss, while Mahler, in his quest for a transcendent refuge, paints a luminous picture of the heavenly joys of childhood. A compelling program that uses the power of classical music to inspire reflection on humanity, spiritual yearning, and the beauty of life.
Voices from the press
« The soloist took off like a rocket with a couple of ascending riffs that had more notes than you could count in the time they were played. His fingers flying on the keys and his embouchure firm on the mouthpiece, Banks played a breath-taking performance with only a few orchestral interludes to give him (and us) a chance to catch a breath. This young artist’s future is wide open to him. » – Classical Voice North Carolina
« Banks considers himself a 100-percent classical saxophonist. Demonstrating complete command of his instruments, he found polished tone and executed complex roulades, runs and other classically based figures. His extraordinary command of the instrument made this unforgettable. » – The Aspen Times
« The public will have fallen under the spell of the South African Vuvu Mpofu, both for her qualities as an actress and as a singer. » – Olyrix
« Vuvu Mpofu possesses considerable talent. The South African soprano rises remarkably to the challenge of the title role, showcasing a rather sumptuous timbre and a full, powerful voice. Mastering vibrato, she soars effortlessly into the high notes and cultivates a rich and quite seductive middle register. » – Concerto.net
Artists
Rafael Payare, conductor
Steven Banks, saxophone
Vuvu Mpofu, soprano
Program
Jimmy López, Perú Negro (17 min)
Billy Childs, Diaspora, Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra (23 min)
Intermission (20 min)
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 4 (54 min)
Steven Banks
SaxophoneSteven Banks, hailed by The Washington Post as “the saxophone’s best friend, fiercest advocate and primary virtuoso in the classical realm,” is a groundbreaking performer, composer, and champion of the saxophone in classical music.
In the 2025–26 season, he performs with the St. Louis, Indianapolis, Oregon, and makes European debuts with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He has previously appeared with the Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, and Pittsburgh symphonies, among others. Banks is committed to creating new works for saxophone, and in addition to Billy Childs’ Diaspora, written for Banks and commissioned by a historic consortium of ten orchestras, this season he will premiere Joan Tower’s concerto Love Returns. Banks collaborates frequently with the Verona, Miró, and Kenari Quartets and appears on major concert series. As a composer, his works- such as Through My Mother’s Eyes (commissioned by the Chicago Symphony for Hilary Hahn)- have earned critical acclaim.
Dedicated to equity in classical music, he founded Come As You Are, promoting inclusion and access. The first saxophonist to win an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, Banks founded the saxophone program at the Cleveland Institute of Music and teaches at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He endorses Conn-Selmer and D’Addario Woodwinds.
Vuvu Mpofu
SopranoThe young South African soprano Vuvu Mpofu is already entering the international spotlight with her shimmering vocal quality and technique, boundless musicality, and authentic stage presence. In 2019, she was awarded the prestigious John Christie Award at the Glyndebourne Festival, and she is also a recent prizewinner at the Operalia Competition and the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.
This season, she will make her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Clara in Porgy and Bess. She also makes two major role debuts: as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Vlaanderen and as Mimì in La bohème with Pittsburgh Opera. She returns to Cape Town Opera as Micaëla in a new production of Carmen. In concert, she sings her first Verdi Requiem with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Vuvu made her debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper as a Blumenmädchen in a new production of Parsifal in 2018 conducted by Kirill Petrenko; other appearances include: Cunegonde in Candide for the Bergen National Opera; Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims for the Rossini Opera Festival and for Opera Köln; Clara in Porgy and Bess at the Teatro Real, Madrid and Teatro Colon, Buenos Aries and First Nymph in Rusalka at the Glyndebourne Festival.
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