The Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra performed its final concert of the academic year Sunday evening in the Slosberg Recital Hall to conclude the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts. Playing pieces by a variety of composers under conductor Neal Hampton (MUS), the concert was a significant departure from the orchestra's festival performance last spring, when it played one work-Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor.Bernstein's "Pas de Deux"-from his musical On the Town-was a particularly appropriate opener to the evening. Often reminiscent of George Gershwin, "Pas de Deux" had a mellow beginning led by a trumpet. As the piece progressed, a full violin sound entered to evoke a calm and peaceful walk on the prairie.

The next work was Johannes Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn. Containing a choral movement, eight segments and a finale, Variations was Brahms' first attempt at a large-scale orchestral composition, and was responsible for a new genre characterized by independent orchestral sets contained within larger thematic frameworks. The work started out with a simple oboe melody; soon, the orchestra's cellos played staccato melodies behind sweeping violins. Between deliberate crescendos and concise musical phrases varying in intensity, the piece balanced mood and rhythm while keeping its basic thematic structure. The melody slowly cascaded down, first switching from cheerful tones to fuller ones before ending with an impressive burst of speed.

After the intermission, the orchestra performed Victor Herbert's Suite of Serenades, described by Hampton as "an example of Americana-little time capsules." Herbert, one of the most renowned American operetta composers, wrote the suite for a jazz ensemble, and the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra stayed true to this interpretation. The suite was divided into three sections: Spanish, Cuban and Oriental, each played with an entirely different approach. The first section was energetic as a result of its staccato flourishes. The second section began with some gentle harp strumming and continued into a work clearly influenced by Cuban music, especially clear from its vibrant use of trumpets. The oboe and clarinet played important solos as well. Oriental movement closed the work with some interesting interplay between the orchestra's string and wind instruments.

The final piece was Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major. The concerto borrowed from a range of composers, including Mozart, Camille Saint-SNens and Gershwin, and featured Elise Yun, an accomplished pianist who has performed at venues like Carnegie Hall and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The piece built energy quietly at first, eventually changing rhythms and styles with greater frequency and even hinted at elements of jazz. Yun showcased virtuoso skills as her fingers ran up and down the piano-an effect amplified by a harp's sweeping, dreamy sounds.

While overall the work was soothing and soft, the furious ending provided the perfect conclusion to the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra's eclectic, but solid, show.