An exceptional lineup of celebrated pianists will perform iconic works by Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Mozart, de Falla and Liszt during the Monterey Symphony’s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20.

Salinas, CA, June 28, 2017 – The season, entitled “Concert Grand,” is under the direction of Maestro Max Bragado-Darman, whose guest pianists will Orion Weiss, David Jae-Weon Huh, Josu de Solaun, Juan Perez Floristan, Phillipe Bianconi, and one more to be selected by guest conductor Conner Gray Covington, who will preside over the March 17-18 program.

The symphony also will be performing pieces by Dvorak, Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, de Falla and Tchaikovsky.

All programs will be performed at the Sunset Center (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Mission streets) in Carmel at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Special youth concerts, also at the Sunset Center, have been scheduled Oct. 16, March 19 and April 23, with performances at 9:30 and 11 a.m. on each date.

The Monterey Symphony‘s chamber players will present a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at All Saints Church (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Monte Verde streets in Carmel).

For ticket information, call 831-646-8511, visit the website at www.montereysymphony.org, or send an email to info@montereysymphony.org.

Here’s an in-depth look at the upcoming season:

Program 1: Oct. 14 and 15 (with youth concert on Oct. 16)

Pianist Orion Weiss, a favorite of Monterey Symphony fans, will lend his virtuosic skills to Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (originally composed for the historically acclaimed Nikolai Rubinstein) in the season opener, during which the orchestra will perform Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” Op. 95.

Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim.

Program 2: Nov. 18-19

South Korean-born David Jae-Weon Huh, silver medalist at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will lend his talents to Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26, in this powerful program, which also will include the Symphony’s interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 (“Pastoral.)

Recognized for his sense of poetry and technical brilliance, Huh has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and has appeared in numerous festivals, including recitals at Animato den Paris, San Francisco Music Festival, and Leipzig Euro Music Festival, among many others.

This will be his first appearance with the Monterey Symphony.

Program 3: Feb. 17-18

Josu de Solaun, first-prize winner at the 2014 Enescu Piano Competition, will join the Symphony to perform Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 103 in a concert that also will include Symphony renditions of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61.

de Solaun’s teachers, mentors, and musical influences have Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Ricardo Roca, Ana Guijarro, Maria Teresa Naranjo, Albert and Miyoko Lotto, Joaquin Achucarro, Matti Raekallio, Edna Golandsky, and Jerome Lowenthal.

Symphony audiences will remember de Solaun for his previous solo recital, featuring Mussogorky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Program 4: March 17-18 (with youth concert on March 19)

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with the Monterey Symphony and wall-to-wall Mozart, a program that will include the overture from his beloved opera, Don Giovanni.

This concert will be performed under the baton of guest conductor Connor Gray Covington (recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Utah Symphony) and will include Mozart’s Symphony No. 1, KV 16, and Symphony No. 41, KV 551 (“Jupiter”).

Covington is currently completing his tenure as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he is being mentored by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. He recently made his debut with the Curtis Symphony at Carnegie Hall, sharing the podium with Ludovic Morlot.

A special guest pianist, to be selected by Covington, also will be part of this spectacular program.

Program 5: April 21-22 (with youth concert on April 23)

Guest pianist Juan Perez Floristan, winner at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will showcase his talents with a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 83, in a program that also will include the Symphony’s rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 (“Italian”) — a piece Mendelssohn, himself, declared to be the “jolliest” he ever composed.

Regarded as a beacon among new generations of Spanish and European musicians, Perez has performed with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony, Radio Television Espanola, Seville Royal Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Malaga and Cordoba Symphonies, and the Andres Segovia and Spanish National Youth Orchestras.

Program 6: May 19-20

The incomparable Phillipe Bianconi will be at the piano for the Monterey Symphony’s final program of the season, performing Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Liszt perfected the art of thematic transformation and took it to an extreme level with this impassioned concerto.

French pianist Bianconi has been described as an artist whose playing is “always close to the soul of the music, filling the space with poetry and life” (Washington Post), “an extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste which lent the music a freshness, immediacy and conviction one all too seldom encounters” (The London Times). After winning the Silver Medal in the Seventh Van Cliburn International Competition, Bianconi made an acclaimed recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1987 and, since then, has enthralled audiences and critics throughout the world.

Also featured will be Manuel de Falla’s lovely Noches en los Jardines de Espana, his most impressionist-style work, which details three gardens in a setting for piano and orchestra.

Chamber Program: Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church)

The Monterey Symphony is pleased to offer a special holiday chamber music treat, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok, with selections that include Piazzolla, Beethoven, Mozart, and the Hampton String Quartet’s “What if Mozart wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!”

Come have fun and enjoy holiday music in a classical style with the Monterey Symphony chamber players.

Lee Rosen, President and Acting Executive Director stated “We are also announcing an important change with respect to our venues for the upcoming season. Our current business model with 3 performances in 2 venues has become untenable and cost prohibitive to the organization. Therefore, we have decided to consolidate in one venue – the Sunset Center in Carmel and welcome all of our subscribers and patrons from North County, the Salinas Valley, and San Benito County, to attend our Sunset Center concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. This change will allow us to concentrate on growing our audience to capacity and dealing with one venue infrastructure.”

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereysymphony.org