The Nova Orchestra Vienna (NOW!), under the direction of chief conductor William Garfield Walker, celebrates the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg's birth with a performance of his groundbreaking Chamber Symphony No. 1 for 15 solo instruments. The work marks a turning point in Schönberg's oeuvre. He breaks away from late Romanticism towards musical modernism and still astounds today with his expressive intensity. In contrast, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring in the original version for chamber orchestra. In the midst of the Second World War, Copland composed this beautiful, harmonious-sounding ballet music, which cemented his reputation as the musical voice of America. Finally, the programme is rounded off with a commissioned work by the young Austrian composer Noëmi Haffner. A concert evening full of contrasts and exciting discoveries from Viennese modernism to the present day.