Composer Kareem Roustom's New Violin Concerto

The concerto honors victims of racial violence and is subtitled “with might and main”

Commissioned by Dallas Symphony Orchestra's (DSO) principal second violinist, Angela Fuller Heyde, the piece was premiered on May 13th, 2021 by the DSO, Heyde, and conductor Gemma New.

Syrian-born American composer Kareem Roustom wrote his second violin concerto "In memory of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too many others."

"It was impossible not to be aware of what was going on… and not feel this profound grief and frustration," Kareem Roustom said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News.

KAREEM ROUSTOM | VIOLIN CONCERTO NO.2 | EXCERPT FROM MVT III | ANGELLA FULLER HEYDE | GEMMA NEW | DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

Roustom is an Emmy-nominated composer whose genre-bending collaborations include music commissioned by conductor Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, as well as pop singers Shakira and Tina Turner.

Roustom served as the composer-in-residence with the Württembergische Philharmonie in Reutlingen, the Grant Park Music Festival, and the Grand Teton Music Festival.