A Modern Twist on a Classic

Paul Whiteman—a bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist—wanted a piece that combined jazz and classical music for “An Experiment in Modern Music” concert to be premiered on February 12, 1924, at Aeolian Concert Hall in New York City. He commissioned George Gershwin (1898-1937) to compose the piece.

It is said that Gershwin forgot about Whiteman’s project and rushed to finish it on a train ride from Boston to New York but was inspired during this commute. Gershwin wrote the piece in only three weeks before passing his score of Rhapsody in Blue to Whiteman’s arranger, Ferde Grofé, who finished orchestrating the piece just eight days before the premiere.

Although the piece wasn’t completely finished by the premiere (Gershwin improvised much of the piano solo during the performance), the audience loved the piece, which gave Gershwin worldwide fame. Despite Rhapsody in Blue being the only major work of Gershwin’s that he did not orchestrate himself, it is still one of the most-performed and most-recorded orchestral compositions of the 20th century. Ever since the 1980s, United Airlines has used the famous Rhapsody in Blue tune in its advertisements.

Fast forwarding to nearly 100 years after the premiere of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Grammy-nominated composer Peter Boyer and pianist Jeffrey Biegel joined forces to create Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue, a new work for orchestra and piano celebrating Gershwin’s famous piece. (Biegel initially came up with the project, its title, and selected Boyer as the composer.) The goal of this project was to assemble a nationwide consortium of orchestras and conductors to perform the work with Biegel as the soloist in all 50 states as a way for our nation to “join hands through music, despite all the divisions and differences.” Through the American Composers Forum, Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue was fully funded, providing orchestras the opportunity to participate in the project with paying co-commissioning fees.  
Our performance of Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue will be the Illinois premiere, and it's often performed with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. We are thrilled to welcome back Biegel, who last performed with the ESO in February 2020—he will be performing both rhapsodies.