Dvorak’s Sunny Bohemia

PERTTU Nimue and her Fairies Southern U.S. Premiere
DVORAK Cello Concerto 
DVORAK Symphony No. 8

Immerse yourself in an unforgettable evening of Bohemian beauty and storytelling as your orchestra presents a program of sweeping lyricism, radiant color, and heartfelt expression. At the center of the evening is Antonín Dvořák’s beloved Cello Concerto, one of the most revered works in the entire repertoire, performed by acclaimed cellist David Calhoun.

Both exhilarating and profoundly intimate, the concerto stretches the expressive range of the cello to its limits, revealing some of Dvořák’s most soulful, heart-achingly beautiful music. From moments of heroic brilliance to passages of tender reflection, the work speaks with a deeply human voice—one that resonates long after the final note fades. It is a masterpiece that balances fiery virtuosity with aching nostalgia, offering listeners an emotional journey that is at once powerful and deeply personal.

Composed shortly before his departure to the “New World,” Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 reflects a composer at the height of his creative powers, joyfully embracing his Bohemian roots. This life-affirming symphony inhabits a sunlit pastoral landscape filled with folk-inspired melodies, rustic peasant dances, distant horn calls, and echoes of birdsong drifting through the forest. Throughout the work, exuberant celebration coexists with moments of quiet, wistful nostalgia, creating a richly textured musical world that feels both intimate and expansive.

Rounding out the program is the Southeastern U.S. Premiere of Nimue and Her Fairies by contemporary composer Dan Perttu. This enchanting tone poem draws inspiration from the legends of King Arthur and the fairy-like enchantress Nimue, weaving shimmering orchestral colors and lyrical themes into a spellbinding narrative. Evocative and atmospheric, the piece invites listeners into a world of magic, mystery, and myth, offering a fresh and imaginative complement to the timeless works of Dvořák.

Together, these three works form a concert of beauty, imagination, and emotional depth—an evening that celebrates the enduring power of orchestral music to tell stories, stir the soul, and transport us to worlds both familiar and fantastical.

Cellist David Calhoun has attracted the notice of today's visionary musicians, including David Amram, who sums up his credentials thus: "David Calhoun is what American music needs now . . . [he has] extraordinary talents as a virtuoso soloist and ensemble expert." His far-ranging career has included solo performances live in-concert with Liza Minnelli at Carnegie Hall, in scenes with the Martha Clarke Dance Company as both soloist and dancer, and chamber music collaborations with great violinists such as Ani Kavafian, Sydney Harth and Eric Friedman, the pianist Menahem Pressler and the Shanghai String Quartet. On the international stage Mr.Calhoun was featured as soloist with orchestra and chamber musician at the Tchaikovsky Festival in Tchaikovsky’s childhood home of Izhevsk, Russia. In the year 2000 he was honored to accept the invitation to perform a private millennial concert of solo Bach for Cardinals and clergy of the Vatican in Rome. He also has given concerts in Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, France, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Calhoun has led a delegation of young artists to perform as soloists with the Israel Chamber Orchestra in Tel Aviv, Israel, in a concert to benefit foster homes.  Mr. Calhoun was appointed principal cellist of the Space Coast Symphony in 2025 by Maestro Aaron Collins, and is principal cellist of the Brevard Symphony, the Villages Philharmonic, and The Florida Philharmonic. He has performed as principal cellist with the American Symphony at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera House, the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM, the American Composers Orchestra at Zankel Hall, the New York City Opera on tour, Musica Sacra at St. John the Divine, SONYC, etc. Mr. Calhoun has toured with Orpheus and with the Metropolitan Opera in Japan, and collaborates annually in chamber music concerts with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Classical Tahoe. Mr. Calhoun has performed chamber music regularly in New York’s most prestigious venues, including Bargemusic, Carnegie Weill, the Brooklyn Museum Chamber Series, the Look and Listen Festival, the Seacliff Chamber Players, at Symphony Space as soloist, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where for 15 years he was tenured in year-round residence with the Orion Piano quartet. He has been a member of the acclaimed Kinor Quartet in residence at the annual World Bank Mozart Festival in Washington, D.C. , and the Omni Ensemble.

David Calhoun has been an active performer in New York’s vibrant music scene which has included many television, movie, and radio performances. He has recorded for RCA and has performed frequently, including the Kodaly Duo and the Debussy Sonata, on live broadcasts for radio stations WQXR and WNYC in New York City. He can be heard as the cello soloist in Bill Moyers’ PBS series “The Power of Myth.” He was invited by Philip Glass to record the first solo recording of Philip’s cello concerto “Naqoyqatsi” at Looking Glass Studios. In the popular vein, he has played numerous Broadway shows in New York (Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Showboat to name a few) and cast recordings, and toured as solo cellist for stars such as Liza Minnelli, Rod Stewart and Willie Nelson. He has appeared several times on the Letterman Show and shows such as “One Life to Live”. A participant at the Manchester Music Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Chautauqua Festival, the Bard Festival, Waterloo Festival, Garret Lakes Festival, Summertrios, Mr. Calhoun is currently a resident artist of Classical Tahoe. His solo performance on the 2021 Naxos cd of works of John Gottsch was hailed by Gramophone as “fine solo work, committed and colourful" and “Glorious performance of the Bach Suites” (Allegro Magazine 2017)

Music has always been a kind of magic for composer Daniel Perttu, a portal to other realms. When he was young, he was inspired by fantasy novels such as The Lord of the Rings, and he is still drawn to myths and legends. He has written works on themes ranging from the planets, the sorcery of Merlin, and the Callanish Stone Circle, to the Torngat Mountains. His aim is to write music that invites audiences into other worlds, so they can re-discover their own sense of wonder.

Composers and writers whose works have influenced Perttu's music include Mahler, Shelley, Rautavaara, Barber, and Keats. Critic Lee Passarella notes the “modal strains [in Perttu’s music] that recall the works of . . . Ralph Vaughan Williams and Ernest Bloch” (Audiophile Audition).

​Dan’s second piano concerto, A Planets Odyssey, has been characterized by critic Tom Wachunas as a “sensational non-stop trek across millions of miles” that “possesses an uncanny acuity for translating visual and tactile phenomena into palpable realities in themselves, endowing the work with a phantasmagorical dimensionality” (Artwach).

Dan’s recent overture, To Spring, is based on an ode of the same name by poet William Blake.  Writing for The Whole Note, Tiina Kiik characterizes To Spring as being “majestic” and “lyrical.”  And, in Textura, the authors describe To Spring as “vivid, multi-hued scene painting packed with orchestral detail [that] feels like a blossoming, whether it be of youth or the natural world, and a triumphant one at that.”

Dan’s music has been performed on four continents and in more than 40 of the United States.  His concert opener Phoenix was released on a recording by the London Symphony Orchestra in October, 2022, and his Spring overture was recently recorded by the Moravian Philharmonic (Czech Republic).  Both recordings are on the GRAMMY-winning Navona Records label, an imprint of PARMA Recordings.

His other international credits include performances by the Subotica Philharmonic and the Niš Symphony Orchestra (Serbia), and the Falcón Symphony Orchestra (Venezuela). In the States, his orchestral credits include the Austin Symphony (Texas), Wichita Symphony (Kansas), Toledo Symphony (Ohio), Ocala Symphony (Florida), Symphonicity (Virginia), Kamuela Philharmonic (Hawaii), Rock Hill Symphony (South Carolina), Western Piedmont Symphony (North Carolina), Eastern Connecticut Symphony, Wheeling Symphony (Ohio), Grand Junction Symphony (Colorado), Rapides Symphony (Louisiana), Butler County Symphony (Pennsylvania), Clinton Symphony (Illinois), Springfield Symphony (Ohio), Flagstaff Symphony (Arizona), Wheeling Symphony (West Virginia), Ohio Valley Symphony, Butler Philharmonic (Ohio), Sierra Vista Symphony (Arizona), Canton Symphony (Ohio), Muscatine Symphony (Iowa), Perrysburg Symphony (Ohio), Space Coast Symphony (Florida), Firelands Symphony (Ohio), Fox Valley Symphony (Wisconsin), Acadiana Symphony (Louisiana), Oklahoma Composers' Orchestra, Greenville Symphony (Pennsylvania), Orchestra Omaha, and Lakeland Civic Orchestra (Ohio).

Although Dan always loved to compose, he was resistant to pursue composition as a career when he was young. As an undergraduate student, he hedged his bets by studying music and English. He also took numerous courses in psychology and neuroscience and even considered a career in law. When he was awarded a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship to study music in graduate school, he threw caution to the wind and decided to go “all in.”  It worked. Upon graduating with his doctorate in composition, he took a position as a music professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and now teaches at Westminster College, where he is serving again as the chair of the School of Music, having previously been in that role for two terms from 2014 through 2022.  He lives with his wife and two amazing daughters in Neshannock, Pennsylvania.