The natural world underscores VSO’s second concert at the Flynn in October, with birdsong, thunder, moonlight, and mushrooms as influence for a breadth of compositions. William Grant Still’s Wood Notes is inspired by the rich nature of the American South, and Chelsea Komschlies’ piece Mycelialore makes musical connections between fungal and neural networks in a piece commissioned by the League of American Orchestra’s Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. The second half presents Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale”, a bucolic hymn to the countryside and nature. From stillness to dancing, and bird calls to storms, Beethoven’s ability to incorporate rural life in musical form is exemplified in the four movements of this work. Conducted by Music Director Andrew Crust.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and is preceded at 6:30 p.m. by Musically Speaking, a free pre-concert discussion that provides entertaining insight into the evening’s program.