The Helena Symphony celebrates the beginning of the 2026-2027 Season with masterpieces of American symphonic music! The Helena Symphony’s Season opens with a celebration of the 250th anniversary of America! Experience the soul of American classical music with Samuel Barber’s evocative Violin Concerto and Aaron Copland’s majestic and uplifting Third Symphony. The evening continues with dinner and drinks at the Opening Night After Party!
“We are thrilled to feature an Opening Night that not only celebrates great masterpieces by Copland and Barber, but also a world premiere by Composer-in-Residence, Ovidiu Marinescu. We invite new and returning music lovers alike! Continue the party with us at the Opening Night After Party!” – Cameron Knight, Director of Development & Communications
The Opening Night After Party will be a joyous and vibrant celebration complete with exquisite catered fare, cocktails, and thrilling silent and live auctions. Featured items will include experiences donated by Symphony Under the Stars, Summer Star Ranch, the Holter Museum, and Montana Public Radio! We have moved the concert to 5:30 p.m. to make way for the celebration – join us for the After Party at 7:30 p.m.
This annual fundraiser will not only serve as the launch of Season 72, but also will make a profound impact on the Helena Symphony and the continuation of the Helena Symphony’s mission to engage, enrich, transform, and inspire lives through music. The funds raised through each ticket sold, auction item purchased, and donation made will directly support the performances of Season 72 and the dynamic, innovative, and impactful vision of Maestro Allan R. Scott.
Join the Helena Symphony at the Helena Civic Center Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. immediately following Opening Night: America 250 on 12 September 2026 for the Opening Night After Party. Tickets are on sale now on the Helena Symphony website or by
calling the Symphony office at 406.442.1860. Single tickets are $72, a table of 8 is $520, and a table of 10 is $680.
Ovidiu Marinescu, Composer
Ovidiu Marinescu is an artist who moves fluidly between worlds—cellist, composer, conductor, and educator—shaping each with a voice rooted in curiosity, cultural memory, and a deep love of musical storytelling.
As a composer, Marinescu’s music has been heard across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, with performances in Romania, China, Brazil, Austria, Bulgaria, Russia, the Netherlands, and throughout the United States. Ovidiu Marinescu serves as Composer-in- Residence for the Helena Symphony’s 2026–27 season, a role that has given rise to two major new works created for the orchestra and chorale. As part of this residency, he composed Our America, dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and Metamorphoses, a work for cello, mixed choir, and percussion inspired by Ovid’s retelling of three ancient Greek myths—Narcissus, Orpheus, and Pygmalion. His Concerto for Two Cellos, Strings, and Percussion was co-commissioned in 2020 by seven orchestras with support from West Chester University. Previously, Marinescu has served as Composer-in-Residence for the International Chamber Music Festival in Guatemala City and the International String Encounters in Limeira, Brazil.
Diana Cohen, Violin
Praised for her “incredible flair, maturity and insight,” Diana Cohen has a multifaceted career as a concertmaster, chamber musician and soloist. She is Concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic, Founder and co-Artistic Director of the acclaimed music festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, and Founder of ChamberFest West, in Calgary, Canada.
As soloist, she has appeared with numerous orchestras, including Holland Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, CityMusic Cleveland, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, and Red {an orchestra}, among others. As a chamber musician, she has performed at some of the most prestigious festivals including Marlboro Music Festival and Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, Giverny Music Festival (France), and Kamara.hu of the Liszt Academy (Hungary) and has collaborated with renowned artists including Garrick Ohlsson, Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Dover Quartet, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Miró, Cleveland, and Parker Quartets. Diana has toured and recorded as a member of the prize-winning trio, Trio Terzetto.
Diana’s solo and chamber performances have been heard on radio stations across North America. She has often appeared with the Grammy-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has performed with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Sejong Soloists, The Knights, The Cleveland Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, she was a recipient of the Jerome Gross Prize and was the 2023 recipient of the prestigious “Alumni Achievement Award.”
Diana comes from a musical family and has relished her many performances with them. Her father Franklin Cohen was the longtime principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra, her late mother Lynette Diers Cohen was a lauded bassoonist, and her brother is timpanist of the Calgary Philharmonic.
Thank you to Season 72 America 250 Sponsors – AARP Montana, the Physician Partners of the St. Peter’s Health Foundation, and the Montana 250 Commission!