Alpesh Chauhan conducts Holst’s The Planets and Saint-Saëns featuring cellist Johannes Moser, November 7–9

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Johannes Moser, cello

Wayne State University Treble Choir (Dr. Brandon Waddles, director)

Embark on a space odyssey with Holst’s iconic The Planets, a groundbreaking work that has inspired and shaped a galaxy of soundtracks, including Star Wars. It’s an epic journey in a performance that’s truly out of this world. The evening is paired with Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto, a passionate and virtuosic prelude that sets the stage for the grand celestial adventure to follow.

THOMAS ADÈS Three-piece Suite from Powder Her Face

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1

GUSTAV HOLST The Planets

COLIN MATTHEWS Pluto, The Renewer

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About Alpesh Chauhan

British conductor Alpesh Chauhan is Principal Guest Conductor of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Music Director of Birmingham Opera Company.

Forthcoming 2024–25 season highlights include debuts with the Stavanger, Detroit, and Vancouver symphony orchestras; Orchestre National de Belgique; PhilZuid; and Orchestre de Auvergne, including at the Evian Festival. He returns to the Oslo Philharmonic; City of Birmingham, Melbourne, and Adelaide symphony orchestras; BBC Scottish; BBC Philharmonic; Ulster Orchestra; and Orchestra de La Fenice. With his Dusseldorf orchestra, he conducts Das Lied von der Erde, as well as opening their new season with Korngold’s Symphony.

Chauhan is particularly well-known for his interpretations of the late Romantic and 20th-century repertoire, and also champions contemporary composers including Thomas Adès, Anna Clyne, Chaya Czernowin, Henri Dutilleux, Osvaldo Golijov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Zakir Hussain, Nicole Lizée, Jessie Montgomery, John Psathas, Steve Reich, Mark Simpson, and George Walker.

In the field of opera, alongside the recently critically acclaimed productions of New Year and Rheingold, other notable opera titles include Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, West Side Story, and productions of Turandot, including at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia.

A keen advocate of music education for young people, Chauhan is a patron of Awards for Young Musicians, a UK charity supporting talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds on their musical journeys.

Former Associate Conductor of BBC Scottish Symphony—with whom he appeared at the BBC Proms in 2022—he continues to appear regularly as a guest conductor, and currently partners with them on a Tchaikovsky cycle with Chandos Records. Their first two albums were released to critical acclaim in 2023 and 2024.

Born in Birmingham, Chauhan studied cello at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester before continuing at the Royal Northern College of Music to pursue the prestigious Master’s Conducting Course. Chauhan received an OBE in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2022 New Year's Honours for Services to the Arts and was conferred an Honorary Fellow of the RNCM in 2024. In 2022, he received the Conductor Award from the Italian National Association of Music Critics for ‘Miglior Direttore.’

About Johannes Moser

Hailed by Gramophone magazine as "one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists," German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world’s leading orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, BBC Philharmonic at the Proms, London Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Tokyo NHK Symphony, and Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras; and with conductors of the highest level including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Paavo Järvi, Semyon Bychkov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Gustavo Dudamel.

His recordings include the concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Elgar, Lutosławski, Dutilleux, Tchaikovsky, Thomas Olesen, and Fabrice Bollon (electric cello), which have gained him the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d’Or. In 2022, Moser released a highly innovative new album on the Platoon label featuring six new commissions for electric cello, alongside multi-layered arrangements of works for cello ensemble utilizing Dolby Atmos’s revolutionary new audio technology, and about which The Strad commented: "…there’s no questioning Moser’s ambition, nor the sheer sense of verve with which he pulls it all off…”. Alone Together is one of the first classical music albums to use multi-tracking so extensively.

Moser is renowned for his efforts to expand the reach of the classical genre to all audiences, and his passionate involvement in commissioning new works for his instrument. Moser performs on an Andrea Guarneri Cello from 1694 from a private collection.

About the DSO

The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a performance schedule that features the PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in metro area venues, as well as eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.

Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.