Our second concert took place on 19th January 2008 in the Free Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb.  The programme focussed on 20th Century American music, with Barber’s Violin Concerto (played by Alicja Śmietana), Copland’s Quiet City and Ives’ Unanswered Question.  But we were particularly excited to have been granted permission to give the belated European premiere of the 2nd Symphony by Ned Rorem – 85 this year and one of America’s most distinguished living composers - an attractive and compelling piece that was written in 1956 for the La Jolla festival in San Diego, but which from 1959 lay unplayed for well over 40 years.