BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Fans of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra got a preview of tomorrow night’s performance featuring the concert’s cello soloist.

The philharmonic held a free lecture and demonstration yesterday at the Kilmer Mansion in Binghamton, with cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins.

She will be playing with the orchestra on Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

BPO’s Director of Education and Community Engagement Julia Grella O’Connell provided some historical context for the piece while Jacobs-Perkins played excerpts.

The famous concerto was written in response to the horrors of World War 1 and is seen as a nostalgic look back to a period that was ending.

Jacobs-Perkins says the piece is full of emotion.

“It’s so personal. I feel like you can’t play this piece and you can’t listen to it without being affected by it. I think that’s why its shown up in many works of fiction recently in movies and tv. You can hear Elgar crying in it. It really sounds like a human plea and I feel that really resonates with many people now especially post COVID and with everything the world has been going through,” she says.

Jacobs-Perkins says she loves performing in the elegant setting of the Kilmer Mansion.

Tomorrow evening’s concert begins at 7:30 at the Broome County Forum Theatre in downtown Binghamton.

The program also includes Beethoven’s Fifth and Copeland’s Variations on a Shaker Melody.

You can purchase tcikets at http://BinghamtonPhilharmonic.org.