The Peoria Symphony Orchestra opens it 116th concert season on Saturday, September 28, 2013 with a concert entitled Power and Passion at 8 pm in the Peoria Civic Center Theater. The concert features an appearance by pianist Olga Kern, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold- medal winner. Kern, recognized as one of her generation’s greatest pianists will be performing the virtuosic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff. With her vivid stage presence, passionately confident musicianship and extraordinary technique, the striking Russian pianist continues to captivate fans and critics alike. The evening will include a pre-concert lecture at 7:00 p.m. and an audience reception following the concert.
According to PSO Music Director and Conductor George Stelluto, “This opening concert is a celebration of all the riches an orchestra has to offer – from the powerful and sublime to the tender and intimate. Get ready for an extraordinary experience.” Tickets for Passion and Power start at $36 for adults and are only $11 for students. For information call the PSO Box Office, 309.671.1096 or go to www.peoriasymphony.org. Season tickets for the eight concert season also are on sale as well as a flexible Compose Your Own four- concert package.
The concert opens with a popular legend, a ghostly ship the Flying Dutchman and its damned captain and crew looking for one great love to lift his curse. The composer Richard Wagner captures the scene perfectly in the Flying Dutchman Overture. Olga Kern will then take the stage for Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini a very well-known piece which audience members may recognize from the movie Somewhere in Time. Stelluto says “Olga is not only a passionate and powerful artist, she is also able to bring out the intimate and
tender side of Rachmaninoff.” The second half of the concert features Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration.
Ms. Kern was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff and began studying piano at the age of five. Winner of the first Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition when she was seventeen, she is a laureate of eleven international competitions and has toured throughout her native Russia, Europe, and the United States, as well as in Japan, South Africa, and South Korea. PSO Music Director George Stelluto says “I am so looking forward to Olga’s first visit to Peoria. She connects with audiences in a very special way that is both sensitive and powerful.”
Sponsors for the concert include: Supporting Concert Sponsor – Heights Finance: Guest Artist Underwriter – PNC Bank: and post-concert reception hosts Sharon and John Amdall on behalf of Arts Partners.