(audience applauding) - Hello, Virginia!

(audience cheering) I'm so excited to be here.

I've been looking forward to this for so long and am just so thrilled to see so many people out there.

I'm gonna dive right into some music.

(gentle orchestral music) Tonight, we're showcasing a couple of my songs.

I put out an album called "All My Friends" which was inspired by the suffragists and by the passage of the 19th Amendment.

It was especially crazy to be performing these songs in an election year and I know the election is behind us now but the message remains crucial, I think, for people to keep at the front of their mind, that there was a time 100 years ago where women didn't have the right to vote and we need to not take that for granted.

♪ Red and white and blue and gold ♪ ♪ I wanna wait for the water to touch my toes ♪ ♪ On the beach the 4th of July ♪ ♪ I wanna wait for the fire to burn my eyes ♪ Music really does have the power to get into the sort of vibe-y ether of the mood and really kind of hit you from that angle.

♪ Hole and it's 12 miles deep ♪ ♪ I dug it with my hands ♪ ♪ Come on and lie next to me ♪ We really were able to work together in making the record itself.

I wrote the music and we performed it but then I said I wanted to record it and he helped me produce the album and it really was very much a collaborative process.

♪ Black and blue all on my face ♪ ♪ I wanna follow you home, I wanna see your place ♪ ♪ I wanna take you in my arms ♪ ♪ And float down a river with you ♪ ♪ I wanna buy the farm ♪ ♪ Come on let's run away ♪ - I think I bounce and Aoife decides (laughing).

This piece, really it's Aoife's creation and every element of it, whether it's the children's choir.

(soft music) (choir humming) (choir vocalizing) (choir humming) - Whether it's the orchestration.

♪ Whether its beautiful (indistinct) ♪ ♪ Red and white ♪ - [Eric] Whether it's how the chords flow together.

(light music) It's the sonic world that it lives in.

It feels so Aoife.

(light music) Being a part of it as an interpreter, whether it's Copland or Aoife or the world premier that we're doing tonight by Christina Courtin, I think all those things are how can I get into this as the composer would have intended or the creator would've intended?

(light orchestral music) I think Copland, as an American composer in the orchestral world, is one of the heroes.

Someone who has kind of become the definition of sounds that evoke orchestral America.

So, you have that sound of the Grand Canyon, you have the Great Lakes, you have from sea to shining sea and all of the immense things that intersect throughout this country.

(gentle dramatic orchestral music) And Copland's sound both can be naive and proud and all the beautiful things that make up this country.

(bright orchestral music) When putting this program together and thinking of Aoife's work, it felt like Copland was such a perfect pairing.

(bright orchestral music continues) - Christina is actually one of the people who introduced us way back in the day.

She was a friend of mine and a friend of Eric's.

(audience applauding) So, it's really fun to be doing this work with her.

We have this opportunity to create some new music and we thought who could we get to do it Who would be really a fun composer to work with?

And I love Christina's songs.

She's an incredible songwriter and singer, so it's especially nerve-wracking to sing a piece that was written by a singer (chuckling).

♪ Whom I (indistinct) patch ♪ ♪ Not a piece of a puzzle ♪ ♪ I happen to every day ♪ The lyrics are just gorgeous, the text is stunning and the orchestration is just really so her and also I feel it's very me as well.

So, I think it's a really nice addition to the program.

♪ Walking on a (indistinct) street ♪ ♪ And everywhere that I walk ♪ ♪ And everyone I meet ♪ ♪ They don't know things I even feel ♪ (choir humming) - [Christina] When Eric asked me to write the piece, he said, "If you can have it reflect on your American experience."

♪ I will never (indistinct) ♪ - For me, what that means right now is how to persevere and how to keep going, how to listen.

♪ We are the quarry ♪ - I wanted to try and make something really positive and something that felt hopeful, more common ground maybe.

♪ A story of strong ♪ - The inspiration for this piece is the relationship between the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Ferguson Center and when talking with Bruce Bronstein about to celebrate the Ferguson Center, 20 years in and the Virginia Symphony relationship and featuring Aoife was one of his goals and he said "You know what?

Let's build something new that's never happened before."

So, I think that was sort of the jumping off point.

(soft orchestral music) - One of the things that's important to me at the Ferguson Center, I love that the symphony is so ubiquitous throughout Hampton Roads, but this is my venue and I like to do things that are a little different here.

So, this was a way to do something special here at the Ferguson Center, add a commission to it so it's a world-premier event and then such a wonderful story to be able to celebrate this talented couple and throw a Hampton Roads hug around them and celebrate them right here at the Ferguson Center.

♪ What is the democracy for which the world is battling for ♪ ♪ Which we offer up our man power, woman power ♪ ♪ Money power, our all ♪ - Bruce has been able to take what is possible in a concert venue and sort of blow out all the sides.

The idea of being able to support artists and support the community in a truly symbiotic way and bring people up to the next level and to feature people and to bring his audience in for these super unique happenings is so beautiful.

♪ Nor does liberty pause ♪ ♪ To heed the complaints of man ♪ - [Bruce] It's a lot more fun to be able to take artistic risks.

I feel like it's the mission of a performing arts center to elevate artists and create opportunities.

♪ For depriving other people of freedom ♪ - Everyone who's creating deserves the opportunity to have a platform to be heard, to be seen.

Aoife was just nominated for two Grammys, but she's not a household name in our market yet.

♪ Suffrage is coming, you know it ♪ ♪ Suffrage is coming, you know it ♪ ♪ Some of you are old, I know ♪ ♪ Are you willing ♪ - [Bruce] And creating an opportunity to put her on stage and especially with Eric and the Virginia Symphony and for the community to be able to develop a relationship with her, that's how artists grow their careers by building those relationships, and if Ferguson Center and, frankly, if I personally can be part of that, nothing fills my soul more.

♪ Don't drive us away ♪ ♪ Don't wait, don't wait, don't wait, don't wait ♪ ♪ What is the democracy for which the world is battling for ♪ ♪ Which we offer up our man power, woman power ♪ Money power, our all (audience applauds) (audience cheers) (audience cheers) (no audio)