Invictus

Award-winning, Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop’s piano concerto, Invictus has been praised as “accessible, exciting, shrewdly crafted music” (Chicago Classical Review). Revered for her “ear-catching melodies” (Boston Classical Review) and “eclectic modernist… Barber-like lyricism” (Fanfare), Garrop’s concerto draws inspiration from William Ernest Henley’s (1849–1903) poem of the same name and its spirit of perseverance. Composed for multiple Grammy-nominated, Chicago-based performer Marta Aznavoorian, “a pianist of exceptionally finished technique and purity of musical impulse” (Boston Globe), Invictus highlights Aznavoorian’s “uncompromising intensity” (Chicago Tribune) in a commanding performance with the Chicago Philharmonic under the direction of Artistic Director Scott Speck. Latin for “unconquered,” Invictus unfolds across four movements and an interlude, moving between lyrical introspection, fierce determination, and triumphant resolve. Garrop’s concerto places the piano at the center of the drama, portraying the soloist as both narrator and survivor. Aznavoorian also performs Garrop’s adventurous solo piano work Joie de vivre, commissioned by Highland Park arts patron Joanne Bernstein. A musical reflection on the joys of life, the solo work celebrates Bernstein’s devotion to art, music, culture, and family.