Prairie Performances: New Beginnings
Prairie Performances logo Kurt Bielema
By Mel Miller
On tonight’s archive episode of Prairie Performances, we’re starting off the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s new semester with music centered on new beginnings. The start of the Fall semester is always an exciting time here on campus, and brings with it many changes: some exciting, some perhaps a little scary.
In the spirit of new beginnings, tonight’s pieces view new beginnings in their own way. First, we’ll be hearing the entirety of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no. 2 in C minor, also known as the Resurrection Symphony, as performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra. After that, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, op. 28, which symbolized new beginnings in the popular Japanese animated series, Your Lie in April. I hope these pieces will inspire you to find your own new beginning!
This episode aired September 4th, 2025 on WILL, Classical 90.9.
