When our Music Director, Henry Cheng, talks about music he rarely stops at notes and rhythms. He goes straight to how it feels, what it stirs up and the way it lingers after the last sound fades. That perspective shaped his vision for our IMAGINE: Pops Without Borders concert, and it also inspired him to put together a playlist that extends the experience beyond the stage. Thoughtfully curated in chapters, this Spotify set connects global traditions, pop favorites and cinematic soundscapes into something you can carry with you wherever you go. Below Henry shares more about the inspiration behind his selections and how each track reflects the spirit of the season.
From the Maestro
The first sound of a concert feels like a breath shared by strangers. A hush. A heartbeat. Then a tone finds the room, and the room begins to sing back. That feeling sits at the center of our season at the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. We call it IMAGINE, a journey toward curiosity, courage, and care. It welcomes our city to dream forward, together.
Pops Without Borders stands at the heart of this course. The October program traces how music travels, across languages, across generations, across time, and how those journeys shape the way a community listens. It sounds like the world, and it sounds like home. It lifts the voices of our neighbors, the memories we carry, and the joy we share when the downbeat lands and a community moves as one.
The arc of the evening begins as a quiet spark and gathers light. Global classics, pop anthems, and cinematic themes rise on a single stage. Reflection opens the door to dance. Intimacy grows into celebration. A solo line becomes the voice of us all.
I spend a great deal of time thinking about feeling—how a program breathes, how one song hands a mood to the next. For Pops Without Borders, the architecture lives inside the audience experience. The strings warm the air; a familiar melody invites a memory; a groove in the percussion pulls a shoulder into motion; a voice arrives and the room lifts.
This concert invites a simple practice: listen for the moment when someone else’s story begins to sound like your own.
The Playlist
To extend that feeling beyond the stage, I curated a 10‑track Spotify set…IMAGINE: Pops Without Borders. Think of it as your parallel concert, something you can take on a walk, through a commute, or around a dinner table. The sequence follows four clear chapters, each one designed to hold a feeling and a place in the season’s story.
- John Lennon — “Imagine” opens a door to possibility. A simple melody holds a vast idea.
- A piano setting of BTS’s “Epiphany” centers the heart—quiet truth as a kind of bravery.
- George Gershwin — Rhapsody in Blue lifts the skyline—jazz and symphonic color in full stride.
- Ravi Shankar — “Morning Love” greets the day—a raga that breathes grace and light.
- Ryuichi Sakamoto — “Bibo no Aozora” offers a luminous, cinematic sky—memory, tenderness, and space to linger.
- Miriam Makeba — “Pata Pata” brings South African joy—rhythm as community.
- Gustavo Santaolalla — “De Ushuaia a La Quiaca” traces a South American horizon—six strings, wind, and the road ahead.
- Jacob Garchik — “The Heavens” sends a brass choir upward—gospel fire, surprise, and delight.
- Mariah Carey — “Hero” offers a hand to the voice inside—strength felt from within.
- Tan Dun — Internet Symphony No. 1 (“Eroica”) closes with an internet‑age fanfare—tradition meeting the future in a single breath.
Every track serves one purpose: deepen connection—to the concert, to the season, and to each other. Play them in sequence, and a story unfolds. Play them out of order, and the themes still find their way to you.
A Season That Belongs to Everyone
IMAGINE grows from one guiding belief: an orchestra reaches its highest purpose when it amplifies the community it serves. This season welcomes legacy works and new sounds, intimate moments and big‑hearted finales. It invites families, students, and longtime patrons to recognize themselves in the music—and to discover something new in the seat beside them.
I grew up with Beethoven and BTS, concert halls and community spaces. That blend shapes how I guide a program and how I lead from the podium. The orchestra becomes a gathering place—one that values excellence, sincerity, and imagination in equal measure
This vision steps onto an international stage with our upcoming Vietnam Tour. We travel as artists and as neighbors, carrying the stories of Johns Creek across the Pacific and returning with fresh friendships, repertoire, and energy. The tour uplifts our orchestra, elevates our city’s cultural voice, and opens pathways for collaborations—on stage, in classrooms, and across civic life.
The timing of this journey gives the season a deeper resonance. IMAGINE becomes action, service, and exchange. Our audience hears this music in Johns Creek; audiences in Vietnam hear it through their own histories and hopes. The bridge runs both ways.
A new chapter for JCSO is taking shape—musicians on stage, staff and board behind the scenes, partners across the city, and audiences who bring their whole lives into our concerts. We are listening closely, designing with intention, and keeping the doors open. Vision grows stronger when a community shares it.
Pops Without Borders expresses that promise. The IMAGINE season builds it. The playlist keeps it close.
Bring your family. Bring your stories. Bring your playlist. Let’s imagine what we can be, together.