We asked our musicians and alums to share their favorite concert music to set the mood for Valentine’s Day. Here’s what they told us!

We hope you hear something new to make you heart beat faster, or rediscover an ‘old love’ on this list to share with someone special.

Give your heart over to classical music with a gift to TŌN today!

Your generosity will sustain the next generation of great performers— 60 players from 13 countries—learning to share their passion for music with 21st-century audiences.

Help us spread the love . . . Your heart and ears will be happy you did!

Mahler Symphony No. 5, "Adagietto"
TŌN bassist Joshua DePoint '22 and TŌN cellist Eva Roebuck '22
“Originally composed as a declaration of love to Alma Schindler, Mahler sent her the manuscript of the 'Adagietto' instead of a letter. It is scored for only strings and harp, creating a warm and intimate sound. It encapsulates so many emotions associated with romance within its ten-minute duration: the soaring highs of rapturous love, tenderness, and joy, but also bittersweet yearning, melancholy, and wistfulness.”

Debussy La Mer
TŌN percussionist Luis Herrera Albertazzi '23 and SarahAnn Duffy
"Besides the undeniable beauty of his music, and French music in general, we have always had a deep connection to water, SarahAnn growing up sailing, and me growing up with stunning beaches all around in Costa Rica. That connection became even stronger with us living in the beautiful Hudson Valley and even more so when we got engaged on a sailboat on the Hudson River. We encourage you to find music that brings you closer to the things that mean the most to you!”

Ravel Bolero
Omar Shelly TŌN ’18, Section Viola at the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Boise Philharmonic, and Corey Broughton
"Love is a lot like the theme from Ravel’s Bolero. It starts off simple enough, but evolves into something way bigger over time. It’s tested through ups and downs, but always manages to find its way back to its beginnings, somehow made stronger from the journey. Although Ravel famously thought very little of the piece, we can’t help but to love listening to it together."

Elgar Salut d’Amour
TŌN flutist Rebecca Tutunick ’23 and TŌN bass trombonist Austin Pancner ’23
"While Elgar and Alice Roberts were courting, Roberts presented Elgar with a poem, and as a reply, Elgar composed Salut d’Amour and presented it to her along with a marriage proposal. The two continued on to have a delightful and mutually supportive marriage. When listening to this piece, you can beautifully hear the joy that his to-be wife inspired within Elgar. This piece is especially special to us, as we are thinking of incorporating it into our ceremony music when we get married in January!"

Mozart "Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio" from Le Nozze di Figaro
TŌN bassist Luke Stence ’22 and Valerie Stence
"In this aria, the young page Cherubino expresses his breathless passion for the Countess Rosina:
I speak of love while I'm awake,
I speak of love while I'm sleeping,
to rivers, to the shadows, to mountains,
to flowers, to the grass, to fountains,
to echoes, to the air, to winds,
until they carry away
the sound of my useless words.”

We regret that an earlier version of this email contained an incorrect name for Valerie Stence, the wife of TŌN bassist Luke Stence.