According to Webster’s Dictionary, a concerto is “a piece for one or more soloists and orchestra with three contrasting movements.” And if you ask the average Classical Music Lover to describe a Violin Concerto, it’s likely he or she will think of the big 19th century Romantic concertos by Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, works in which there seems to be a kind of dramatic struggle between soloist and orchestra.

But on today’s date in 2003, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and its concertmaster Stephen Copes premiered a Violin Concerto that didn’t quite fit that mold. For starters, it had FOUR movements, and this Violin Concerto No. 2 of American composer George Tsontakis might be described as more “democratic” than Romantic—meaning the solo violinist seems to invite the other members of the orchestra to join in the fun, rather than hogging all the show. This concerto is more like a friendly, playful game than a life-and-death contest, and Tsontakis even titles his second movement “Gioco” or “Games.”

And, speaking of games, this new Concerto proved a winner, being selected for the prestigious 2005 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. Even so, George Tsontakis confesses to being a little shy when sitting in the audience as his music is played, knowing full well, he says, that most people came to hear the Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, and not him.