Southwest Michigan Symphony performs side-by-side with the Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra

BENTON HARBOR — The Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra performs at 7:30 p.m. May 11 at Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center , 2755 E. Napier Ave.

The concert also features a side-by-side performance with the Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra , as well as featured guest artist Daniel Hsu on piano.

Titled “Rhapsody in Blue,” the program focus on boundary pushers and barrier breakers.

Female composer Fernande Decruck’s Suite Française opens the concert, followed by Georges Bizet’s L'Arlésienne: Suite No. 2.

The sounds of gospel, blues and jazz meet the orchestral stage with Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown, and Beige,” his musical illustration of African-American history.

Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” concludes the concert.

A free pre-concert conversation with Music Director Matthew Aubin begins at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $38-$6.

For more information, call 269-982-4030 or visit smso.org .

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Southwest Michigan Symphony performs side-by-side with the Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra