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Copland & Twain: America 250 - Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Carson Elrod performs a monologue from Mark Twain's works at Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's 'Copland & Twain: America 250' concert (2026)

The American sesquicentennial in 2026 has presented a programming challenge for orchestras across the country. It’s got to be bigger than just another concert of American rep, so it helps to have a high-profile premiere. And because we’re reflecting on America’s legacy and the present moment, part of the concern is about messaging. How do you offer a message that’s celebratory while also honest about the darker currents?

Well, I’m pleased to report that the Milwaukee Symphony walked this tightrope perfectly. The program Copland & Twain: America 250 was a tour de force that took risks and managed to be both funny and moving.

The entire first half was comprised of Aaron Copland’s suites Music for Movies and Music for the Theatre, with movements in a custom order, while five costumed actors delivered monologues from Mark Twain’s writing. I loved the choice for the first monologue; actor Robert Walsh talked with folksy charm about the unique American embrace of ice water at restaurants. It was a perfect unifying topic that got us to laugh at ourselves right off the bat. Carson Elrod gave a southern drawl to a silly story about learning the accordion after being annoyed by amateur musician neighbors, as well as a classic Twain text called On the Decay of the Art of Lying. Maurice Emmanuel Parent stood in for Twain’s political side, speaking with great energy on the shame of America getting involved in foreign affairs (still relevant) and a satirical monologue in which a presidential candidate admits all his depraved past deeds up front. I missed a handful of words across all of these, and surely some elder patrons did too. Maybe supertitles for comprehension could have helped to garner more laughs; the audience was a bit cold.

Happy-Go-Lucky, Back-and-Forth

Threaded between all this was an ongoing Garden of Eden skit, taking text from Twain’s Eve’s Diary and Extracts from Adam’s Diary. Coincidentally, a Present Music concert this season also featured a Garden of Eden theater piece, in that case portraying the birth of AI. The Twain piece played wonderfully as a back-and-forth, with appealing performances from the two actors. Caleb Mayo’s Adam, happy-go-lucky and a bit dumb, mused on the presence of the strange creature with long hair who kept naming all the animals. Chloe McFarlane created an Eve character that was both innocent and intelligent, her monologues conveying a deep love of the natural world and a love of Adam in spite of his stupidity. She had two of the most touching moments in the whole set. In one she marveled at creation under the moonlight, backed by the enchanting Interlude from Copland’s Music for the Theatre. The text and music seemed made for each other. And later she recounted how she tried to give flowers to Adam,but he refused them, too busy building his shack. So much meaning can be extracted from that.

I can’t omit the contributions of the MSO during all of this! Ken-David Masur brought forth the full effect of Copland’s music, from sensitive pastoral moods to the rousing energy in Threshing Machine. The brass in particular really rose to the occasion, outlining the bold American soundscapes. Only the Burlesque had the slightest feeling of ensemble issues. I liked the choice to not always combine text and music, giving both elements space to breathe on their own.

Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman was an attention-grabber after intermission, building on Copland’s sonorities with more suspense and struggle. And then Maurice Emmanuel Parent returned to play Frederick Douglass, in Freedom’s Genuine Dawn by James Lee III. This piece simply floored me. With brutal conviction, Parent delivered Douglass’s abolitionist oration "What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?” The text added up to a surgical indictment of American hypocrisy, how he saw white men patting themselves on the back for the Declaration of Independence while not truly guaranteeing those described rights to all. Lee’s musical component matched and often exceeded the intensity of the words. He turned brassy fanfare ideas into something more anxious, even apocalyptic. A slow march section with Bartok pizzicatos (the kind that snap back from the fingerboard) evoked the cracks of whips. At every turn, the orchestral response to the text was something vivid and psychologically specific. I had wondered how far the MSO would push into the stain of slavery and its legacy, and here they committed to an unflinching look. I commend that. We can’t brush it away. Can’t pretend it doesn’t affect our country today.

Optimistic Closing Mood

Hearing the National Anthem after that was a moment of real whiplash. Maybe that was the point. Robert Walsh re-entered the stage in a full Mark Twain get-up and gave a sort of afterword that I believe was written by Bill Barclay, the mind behind the whole synthesis of Copland and Twain. This last monologue did a great job of tying together all the themes, critiquing America in a gentle, unassuming way. He commented how he used to believe slavery was a divine institution and also noted the problem of “voting for a criminal just because party loyalty required it—I wrote that in 1905.” Boom. He even called into question the idea of male leadership, suggesting that it could be time for a woman in power. After all the Eve monologues showing the character of a woman’s spirit, and our last couple election cycles, this really resonated.

With Walsh-as-Twain’s last words lingering in the mind, the Finale from The Tender Land eased us into an optimistic closing mood. Bill Barclay, the actors, and orchestra had taken us on a journey that covered so many aspects of America. Twain’s words still ring true and relevant. He had concerns about some of the same issues we discuss today and used humor to help process it. And Copland’s music created a glow around all of it, an illumination of common people and our striving toward a better society.