BY NATURE: Resilience and Triumph

May 16, 2026 7:30pm Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham

May 17, 2026 3:00 PM Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton SOLD HERE

Sara Davis Buechner, Piano

A tribute to the legacy of LGBTQ+ composers, featuring the return of celebrated pianist and trans advocate Sara Davis Buechner. A stirring close to the season that celebrates resilience and identity through music. 

Program:

LEONARD BERNSTEIN    Symphony No. 2
for Piano and Orchestra: The Age of Anxiety

PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY    Symphony No. 5 in E Minor

ONN presents a program that honors two incredible LGBTQ+ composers whose voices have shaped the classical music canon. Leonard Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety, a symphony in name and a piano concerto in spirit, traces a soul’s search for meaning in a fractured world. Inspired by W.H. Auden’s Pulitzer prize-winning poem, the music journeys through introspection, disillusionment, and, ultimately, hope — with the solo piano as its restless, poetic voice. ONN welcomes the return of dazzling piano soloist Sara Davis Buechner in her fourth appearance with ONN. The orchestra is featured in the powerful Symphony No. 5 in E Minor of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a deeply emotional journey that weaves darkness and hope, struggle and triumph. Often interpreted as a reflection of Tchaikovsky’s inner turmoil and longing, the symphony builds to a triumphant finale — a powerful reminder of resilience through art. ONN celebrates these two remarkable composers, acknowledging their courage in living authentically in times when their identities were often marginalized.