The music of one of the great American composers, George Gershwin, fills Atlanta Symphony Hall this October. Jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner joins the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform Rhapsody in Blue in a concert led by conductor Kristiina Poska on October 22 and 24.

The Orchestra kicks off this energetic program in a first half dedicated to the master of American song, George Gershwin, performing music from his opera Porgy and Bess. Estonian conductor Kristiina Poska, praised for her ability to yield "outstanding orchestral colour," (El Comercio), conducts Catfish Row: Suite from Porgy and Bess. Filled with folksong, banjo, and beloved melodies like "Summertime", the Catfish Row Suite tasks the Orchestra as storytellers for Gershwin's famed opera.

The second half of the program features the raging and primal "Inextinguishable" Fourth Symphony from Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Nielsen penned the term "Inextinguishable" for the Fourth Symphony for “the elemental will to live" following the horrors of World War I. Nielsen employs dueling timpani, soaring wind instruments and triumphant brass to showcase the lifeforce of the orchestra.

Pianist Sullivan Fortner, recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award makes a rare symphonic appearance as soloist for Rhapsody in Blue. Sullivan has been praised for performing with “an ease of expression that stems from a longtime commitment to music.” (Offbeat)