The Rochester Symphony Orchestra will present “Reassurance and Peace,” an evening of live orchestral music, on Friday, May 22, at 8:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Rochester, Michigan.
Maestro Zeljko Milicevic will conduct the performance. The program will feature works by Carl Maria von Weber, Michael Torke, and George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess Concert Suite No. 1” and “Walking the Dog.”
The orchestra will feature clarinetist Staff Sgt. Nick Thompson of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. Thompson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (2023) and a Master of Music (2018) from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Music (2016) from George Mason University, all in Clarinet Performance. He has performed with the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House and on the band’s annual national concert tour.
Matthew Averyt, a 21-year-old cellist and winner of the 2026 Rita May-Young Artist Competition, will appear as this season’s featured soloist. Averyt will perform the third movement of Antonín Dvořák’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, No. 2 in B minor, Opus 104. He began cello studies at age 11 and is currently a senior at the University of Michigan, where he serves as co-principal cellist of the University Symphony Orchestra. He has received top prizes in several competitions and has performed with orchestras across the United States.
Tickets are $30 for adults and $5 for students and may be purchased online, by calling the box office at 248-651-4181, or at the door.
About Rochester Media