A longtime favorite for college and high school festival strings, Vittorio Giannini’s CONCERTO GROSSO is a rousing and rewarding expression of midcentury American neoclassicism. Its passionate central aria is set in relief between viscerally energetic outer movements, featuring shifting rhythmic pulses and churning modal tunes that will surprise and excite players of all ages (and their audiences too). Conventions of the genre are inventively incorporated, including solo quartet passages for the section leaders in dialogue with the full ensemble, and intricate (but practically considered) divisi textures. All of these elements combine to make the CONCERTO GROSSO an engaging variation on the familiar for experienced players, and an ideal stepping stone to even greater performance heights for student ensembles.