Fazıl Say’s cello concerto, titled Never Give Up (Op. 73), is a powerful and visceral three-movement work written as a "cry for freedom and peace" in response to global turmoil and terror. The concerto follows a dramatic narrative arc that moves from the stark intensity of the opening movement into the harrowing "Terror – Elegy," which famously utilizes orchestral "screams" and percussive "gunfire" rhythms to reflect on the darkness of conflict. The work ultimately resolves in the "Song of Hope," a final movement that incorporates traditional Turkish rhythmic themes and the natural sounds of waves and birdsong to symbolize resilience and the triumph of the human spirit.

The Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, a civic symphony of the MetroWest area, began in 1985 under the direction of local musicians David J. Tierney and Harold W. McSwain, Jr. Comprised of almost 50 professional, semi-professional, and amateur musicians, the orchestra’s mission is to provide the Waltham community with the opportunity to perform in and attend excellent classical concerts. WPO musicians come from Waltham as well as from Boston and surrounding communities.

There are four to five concerts throughout the season, including one that features the winner of the annual Student Concerto Competition, which provides opportunities for young musicians to perform solo works with the WPO. Annual concerts have included summer Concerts on the Common and the November/December Holiday Pops.

Over the years since its founding, the WPO has had talented music directors who have led the orchestra to new musical heights. The current Music Director Michael Korn, who has led the orchestra since 2009, recently won the 2016 American Prize in Orchestral Programming – Community Orchestra Division for his creative program selections for the WPO. Special programs have included Latin-American and Asian-themed concerts as well as opera galas, premieres of contemporary music, and concerts featuring noted soloists.

Hailed by John Williams as “an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist,” Emmanuel Feldman is an award-winning cellist performing in the U.S. and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Described by Gramophone as “an artist who combines communicative urgency with tonal splendor,” his CD Our American Roots (Delos) includes Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker’s cello sonata and Feldman’s acclaimed arrangements of Gershwin pieces for cello and piano.

 Revolutionizing modern cello playing, Feldman performs standing up using his patented TekStand™ pioneering a sensational new experience for listeners visually and sonically that engages fellow musicians and audiences alike. For collaborative concerts when sitting traditionally is needed, he uses his other invention, the TekPin™ vertical endpin that is used by cellists all around the world. He has been featured in articles in The Strad and in Strings Magazine and has been a presenter at the American String Teachers Conference.

 His guest artist appearances include the Celebrity Series of Boston, Phillips Collection, Boston Pops, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Mozart Society Orchestra and Greensboro Festival Orchestra among others. Feldman concerts throughout Europe including appearances at Salle Gaveau Paris, Altes Raathaus Vienna, Palazzo Scopoli, Tonadico (Italy) and he has toured in Taiwan.

An enthusiastic collaborator, he has partnered in a wide range of performances with artists including Gilbert Kalish, Paul Neubauer, Karen Dreyfus Richard Stoltzman, Elmar Oliveira, pop star Bobby McFerrin and groups including the Mark Morris Dance Group and Ballet Rhode Island.

 As co-founder of Duo Cello e Basso, along with bassist Pascale Delache-Feldman, they have given numerous residencies at universities across the U.S. The duo’s recently released CD “Let’s Tango!” (2024) has been entered by Parma Records in consideration for a Latin Grammy for Feldman’s arrangement of the Four Seasons of Buenos Aires of Piazzolla.  As a core member of the Aurea Ensemble and a guest artist with the Boston Public Quartet, Feldman, tours with these groups performing chamber music paired with poetry and the music of BIPOC composers. He also has performed as a guest with the Verona, Jupiter, Lark and Borromeo String Quartets.

 An active advocate of new music, Feldman’s critically acclaimed recordings (Naxos, Delos, Albany and others) and world premiere performances have featured music by American composers John Harbison, Ned Rorem, Gunther Schuller, Steve Mackey and Richard Danielpour. Praised by the N.Y. Times as “exhilarating in this bracing and confident performance” Feldman’s “Rider on The Plains” CD earned a 2008 Grammy nomination for producer Blanton Alspaugh and features Virgil Thomson’s Cello Concerto along with the complete cello works of Thomson with pianist Joy Cline Phinney. Feldman’s own cello concerto “Standing Tall” that won a silver medal at the 2022 Global Music Awards, was written together with the debut of his TekStand™.

 A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Tufts University, he has taught at New England Conservatory and Brown University, is on the performance faculty of Tufts University and Project STEP and has given masterclasses at the National Taiwan Normal University (Taipei), Manhattan School of Music, Bienen School and Peabody Institute. He has been on the cello faculty of the International Cello Institute, Yellow Barn and Heifetz International Music Institutes and is a faculty member of the Trentino Music Festival (Italy) and Duxbury and Easton Chamber Music Festivals.