The orchestra opens the program with Blue Cathedral by Higdon, who The New York Times proclaims as "one of the greatest of the newer composers." The Houston Symphony then features Garrick Ohlsson, a "titan among the titans of the piano" when he performs Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1.

By the end of his career in 1849, Chopin had become history's most prolific composer of the piano repertoire with music that gracefully captures the heart and soul of the instrument.