Saturday, October 25th, 2025 at 2pm AND 8 pm
Live at First Baptist Church of Asheville {5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC 28801}
TICKETS – Seats range from $20 to $85 depending on location
The Asheville Symphony will present a performance celebrating the history of Black Mountain College. The Oct. 25th Masterworks Concert traces a journey from European romanticism to American avant-garde with Brahms’s mountain-inspired Second Symphony, Bartók’s ethereal Viola Concerto (written in part during his time in Asheville), and more alongside groundbreaking works by John Cage that emerged from this transformative haven for creatives in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Conducted by Darko Butorac and featuring violist Natalie Brennecke, the program includes Satie’s Gymnopédies No. 3, Cage’s Seventy-Four, Version II and 4’33”, alongside the Bartók and Brahms masterworks.
Celebrating 90+ years of the enduring legacy of Black Mountain College, this unique program traces a journey from European romanticism to American avant-garde with Brahms’s mountain-inspired Second Symphony, Bartók’s ethereal Viola Concerto (written in part during his time in Asheville), and more alongside groundbreaking works by John Cage that emerged from this transformative haven for creatives in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Satie: Gymnopédies No. 3
Cage: Seventy-Four, Version II
Bartók: Viola Concerto
Cage: 4’33”
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Asheville Symphony’s Masterworks Series showcases the orchestra’s world-class musicianship under the baton of Music Director Darko Butorac, presenting a diverse repertoire ranging from beloved classics to innovative contemporary works. Butorax is praised by the Westdeutsche Zeitung for his “exceptional combination of passion, elegance and well‐timed pacing,” establishing himself as a conductor in demand with orchestras both in Europe and the Americas.
Following his debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic in January 2011, Butorac was reengaged to conduct both the season finale and the opening concert of the 2012 season. Other notable guest conducting engagements include performances with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Neuss and the Georgische Kammerorchester Ingolstadt (Germany), the Rubinstein Philharmonic of Lodz (Poland), the Xiamen Symphony (China), the Tallinn Sinfonietta (Estonia), and the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Gran Teatro Nacional of Lima, Belgrade’s Kolarac Hall, the Teatro Magnani in Italy, and the Tartu, Aspen and St. Olav summer music festivals. From 2009 to 2013 he served as the principal conductor of the Fidenza Opera Festival. And from 2007-2019, Butorac served as the Music Director of the Missoula Symphony.
Butorac says that he is thrilled to continue this collaboration with First Baptist Church of Asheville: “The intimacy and the acoustic create an unforgettable listening experience for our community. The Asheville Symphony has never sounded so good in its history, and it is my personal goal to make our concerts the premier acoustic music experience in Western North Carolina.”
Her accolades include winning the 2024 CIM Concerto Competition, which included a performance of Penderecki’s Viola Concerto at Severance Hall. She also received the 2019 Wendel Irish Viola Award. In 2020, she was a co-winner of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and was featured on “From the Top” as a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist. She received first prizes in the Ohio Viola Society’s Collegiate, Senior, and Junior Division Competitions in 2023, 2016, and 2011, respectively. Natalie currently performs on a viola beautifully crafted by Gabrielle Kundert.
