2026 is a jubilee year for the United States as they celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Inspired by this jubilee, the Belgrade Philharmonic presents a program of remarkable works by American composers, together with two leading American artists: conductor John Axelrod and cellist Zlatomir Fung, the youngest-ever winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition.

Reflecting the cultural DNA of contemporary America, Michael Daugherty’s Route 66 is a wild seven-minute ride through jazz, Latin rhythms, and classical symphonic structure. The composer describes the work as a high-octane nostalgic musical romp from Illinois to California along America’s first intercontinental highway, as seen through my rear view mirror.

The program’s spiritual dimension includes Leonard Bernstein’s Three Meditations and Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei. The grand finale is Symphony No. 2 by the American avant-gardisteCharles Ives, full of references to both American and European musical traditions. Attentive listeners will recognize fragments from popular tunes such as Camptown Races and America the Beautiful, alongside references to Beethoven’s Fifth and Bruckner’s First Symphony, Bach’s Inventions, and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.