Performer: Sam Amidon

The Aurora Orchestra performed and supported a teeming program that took in Norwegian/Appalachian folk music, Mahler and a world premiere.

Iarla Ó Lionáird presented the theme – the Celtic traditional song The Two Sisters – and Julia Wolfe and Nico Muhly provided variations via two separate compositions based on the folk song.

To call last night’s Nico Muhly extravaganza at the Barbican a concert of two halves would not go far enough. It was more like two concerts, with a surprisingly short gap between them. The first was made up of three new classical works played by the Britten Sinfonia, and the second was a set of arty folk numbers and other chamber miniatures by Muhly and others.