Guest conductor Carlos Izcaray leads three works composed during tumultuous times, beginning with his own “Geometric Unity,” a virtual orchestral piece composed during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. No composer is more important to his people than the composer of “Finlandia,” Jean Sibelius. Not long after its premiere, as the Finnish people struggled to break free of Russian domination, Sibelius composed his popular Symphony No. 2. Dubbed the “Symphony of Independence,” it was a tremendous success and would become the most frequently performed and recorded of all his symphonies. Phoenix audience favorite Bella Hristova, first prize winner in the Michael Hill International Competition and Young Concert Artists International Auditions, returns for the third time in four years to play Benjamin Britten’s youthful Violin Concerto. Composed as war clouds descended on Europe and premiered after the outbreak of World War II, it’s one of Britten’s most beautiful and deeply emotional works. “(Bella Hristova) has an innate musicality that makes musical sense of each phrase she plays. Every sound she draws from her 1655 Amati is superb. By the time she had reached the final bars, everyone had become entranced by her playing.” – The Strad