A stunning new concerto for a sensational saxophone soloist dialed up the wow factor at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night. Saxophonist Steven Banks and composer Billy Childs demonstrated that the saxophone deserves a spotlight on the symphonic stage as much as in a jazz ensemble.
Childs’ new concerto, a co-commission by the CSO, was the centerpiece of a crowd-pleasing program that opened with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Overture” and ended with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures…
