Inspired by a popular New York Times article, “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music,” Festival musicians, their children, and Music Institute students were asked for ideas on what pieces made them fall in love with classical music. Their answers created this program.

In 2014, the BBC Proms commissioned Anna Clyne to write an “exuberant” piece. She delivered Masquerade, which makes a perfect prequel for Prokofiev, who said he wanted his 5th Symphony to “sing the praises of the free and happy man—his strength, his generosity and the purity of his soul.” His optimistic symphony cheered its Russian audience at its premiere in 1944, and is one of the great orchestral works of the 20th century.

Mason Bates, Musical America’s 2018 Composer of the Year, returns for a week-long residency. In Liquid Interface, he uses the orchestra, recorded sounds, and electronics to evoke the soothing and menacing aspects of water in its various forms. Concertmaster Jeremy Constant and Principal Violist Adam Smyla open the program with Mozart’s Concerto for Viola and Violin. Mozart loved the viola as much as the violin, and this work showcases the range of the two instruments.