Today’s post comes from this weekend’s guest soloist, percussionist Colin Currie. Read on to learn about his surprise gift from Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara – this gift of his own concerto! It is a great honor to make my debut with the Houston Symphony this season, especially as we will celebrate together “Incantations” by Einojuhani … Continued
There is always something special about bringing the music of my own country abroad. It is wonderful to meet musicians and music lovers who are sincerely interested in the traditions of distant countries. For me, the United States is indeed an extraordinary case. There is nothing really foreign to America, because all nations and cultures … Continued
The third and final week of “RachFest” is filling me with excitement for the upcoming performances of Rachmaninoff’s second concerto. I’m also feeling a hint of nostalgia as this project comes to a close. It has been wonderful and challenging to be immersed uninterruptedly in Rachmaninoff’s concertos. Performing all of them with the musicians of … Continued
Our “RachFest” continues this week with a pairing of Rachmaninoff’s 1st and 4th piano concertos. These two wonderful pieces are sometimes undeservedly overshadowed by their more famous cousins. I am glad to have the chance to present them to the Houston audience, and playing them together in one program makes a lot of sense. Even … Continued
Today’s post was written by artist-in-residence Kirill Gerstein ahead of this month’s RachFest. During RachFest, Gerstein will perform all four of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s knuckle-busting piano concertos. Stay tuned for more posts from Kirill in the coming weeks! I am excited to start our joint Rachmaninoff adventure with the Houston Symphony … Continued
On Friday, Nov. 18, we’re embarking on a brand new concert adventure! While our regular Houston Symphony audiences can probably differentiate between Berlioz and Brahms at the drop of a hat, many people just don’t quite get what classical music is all about. Codas and concertos and cadenzas … what? We decided that enough was … Continued