Santa Rosa Symphony: Beethoven à la Kern
$24-$91
- Olga Kern, piano
Gabriella Smith — One (world premiere)
Ludwig van Beethoven — Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"
Santa Rosa Symphony favorite, Olga Kern, returns to perform Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, "Emperor", a grand virtuosic showpiece setting the pianist up as the hero battling the orchestra. Wagner’s warm and swelling Lohengrin: Prelude to Act 1 provides the perfect beginning for a year of hope and recovery along, with the much-anticipated First Symphony by Composer-in-Residence Gabriella Smith, commissioned by First Symphony Project* donors.
*This is the second season of the First Symphony Project. This four-season project with four world premieres by American composers is commissioned by the Santa Rose Symphony, the Eugene Symphony and nine patron households including Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong.
Concert Conversations with Francesco Lecce-Chong: Concert Conversations are general seating and free to Classical Series concert ticket holders. Approximately 30 minutes in Weill Hall:
- Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 6:30pm
- Sunday, January 9, 2022 at 2pm
- Monday, January 10, 2022 at 6:30pm
COVID-19 Protocols for this concert:
Ages 7-11:
- Masks are required
- Negative COVID PCR test (taken within 72 hours prior to performance).
- Photo ID is required unless accompanied by parent.
Ages 12 & up;
- Masks are required
- Photo ID is required
And one of the following:
- Proof of vaccination - name on card must match photo ID.
- Negative COVID PCR test (taken within 72 hours prior to performance) - name on the test results must match photo ID.
No one will be admitted without a mask, photo ID and either proof of vaccine or negative COVID-19 PCR test. No exceptions.
About Olga Kern, piano
Pianist Olga Kern is one of her generation’s great artists. With her vivid stage presence, passionately confident musicianship, and extraordinary technique, the striking pianist continues to captivate fans and critics alike.
Olga Kern was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, and began studying piano at the age of five. She jumpstarted her US career with her historic Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas as the first woman to do so in more than 30 years.
Ms. Kern’s discography includes Harmonia Mundi recordings of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Christopher Seaman (2003), her Grammy-nominated recording of Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations and other transcriptions (2004), a recital disk with works by Rachmaninoff and Balakirev (2005), Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Warsaw Philharmonic and Antoni Wit (2006), Brahms Variations (2007), and a 2010 release of Chopin Piano Sonatas No. 2 and 3 (2010).
Most recently, SONY released their recording of Ms. Kern performing the Rachmaninoff Sonata for Cello and Piano with cellist Sol Gabetta. She was also featured in the award-winning documentary about the 2001 Cliburn Competition, "Playing on the Edge." In 2012, Olga and her brother, conductor and composer Vladimir Kern, co-founded the Aspiration Foundation, whose objective is to provide financial and artistic assistance to musicians throughout the world.
In 2017, Ms. Kern was gratified to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, joining other honorees including Rosa Parks, Buzz Aldrin, Coretta Scott King, and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. This commendation recognizes Americans who “embody the spirit of America in their salute to tolerance, brotherhood, diversity, and patriotism.”
https://olgakern.com/