Tonight's WPS Masterworks concert unites orchestra, chorus, guest soloists

Burke County music aficionados will have a front-row opportunity to experience one of the Western Piedmont Symphony’s most ambitious choral programs of the season when MASTERWORKS: GRANT US PEACE takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at P.E. Monroe Auditorium in Hickory.

The Masterworks performance brings together orchestra, chorus, and internationally recognized soloists for a large-scale program centered on reflection and peace.

The concert opens with John Adams’ “Christian Zeal and Activity,” followed by selections from Claude Debussy’s “The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian.” The evening concludes with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Dona nobis pacem (Grant Us Peace),” a major work for chorus, orchestra and soloists incorporating text by Walt Whitman.

“Grant Us Peace is a thought-provoking and powerful journey that contains a message that is as necessary as it is timeless,” said Music Director Matthew Troy.

Featured soloists include soprano Janinah Burnett and baritone Michael Adams. More than 150 singers from regional choirs will join the orchestra, including members of the CVCC Chorus and Ensemble, Hickory Choral Society and the Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir.

Burnett is an internationally recognized soprano who has performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera and on Broadway. A former Mimì in Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway production of La Bohème, she has appeared in more than 25 cities worldwide and created the title role in Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Road to Freedom. She also produces solo concerts blending classical, jazz and spiritual traditions and serves on the faculty at UNC Greensboro.

Adams is praised for his rich tone and has appeared regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in productions including Carmen and Le nozze di Figaro. He has performed leading roles with major companies in the U.S. and Europe and is an award-winning vocalist with extensive concert and operatic experience. He returns to Western Piedmont Symphony as the baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem.

A pre-concert discussion, Behind the Music, will take place from 6:30-6:50 p.m. and is included with admission.

Tickets range from $20 to $58 for adults, with $10 student tickets available with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased at wpsymphony.org, by calling 828-324-8603, or at the WPS box office on the SALT Block in Hickory.

Western Piedmont Symphony continues its season April 18 in Lenoir and May 16 in Hickory. More information about the 2025–26 season is available at wpsymphony.org.

— AVN