Description: Few classical composers are as beloved as Johannes Brahms, and few of his pieces are as popular as the works on this concert! Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture bubbles over with playfulness and humor. Originally composed for a college graduation ceremony (at which the composer was awarded an honorary doctorate), you might expect Brahms to provide a serious piece befitting the solemn occasion. Instead, he delivered an energetic romp that celebrated the less studious side of college life. Countless melodies unfold one after the other— each of them borrowed from student drinking songs that would definitely have been recognized by the graduates in the audience. Then, the winner of the annual Concerto Competition, Jacob White, performs Richard Strauss' carefree Horn Concerto No. 2. The evening concludes with one of Brahms' most personal works — his Symphony No. 3. Its score contains the full range of human emotion, from dark despair to complete elation.