Canadian pianist extraordinaire Angela Cheng tackles one of the repertoire's greatest challenges: Rachmaninoff's spirited Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which fuses a Paganini tune with Rachmaninoff's own obsession with the Dies Irae, a melody representing death. The program opens with American composer and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral, composed after the loss of her younger brother, which features musical dialogues between the siblings. Finally, Respighi's Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome round out the evening in a glorious homage to the Appian Way.