Name: 2025 Cliburn Gold Medalist
Start: 2026-01-22T19:30:00
Location: Baylor University

Prepare to embark on a transcendent journey through music with the Waco Symphony Orchestra's latest events. Featuring an eclectic blend of classical compositions and Broadway hits, these concerts promise to captivate audiences with performances by celebrated artists such as Aristo Sham and Sterling Elliott. From the powerful notes of Brahms and Beethoven to the enchanting tunes of Wicked and Les Misérables, this season offers something for every music enthusiast. Join Maestro Lawrence Loh and the Waco Symphony as they weave a tapestry of sound, bridging cultural and musical divides.

A Symphony of Cultures: From Brahms to Broadway with the Waco Symphony Orchestra

Lawrence Loh

Aristo Sham

Waco Symphony Orchestra

Aristo Sham, the Gold Medalist and “Audience Favorite” of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will join Maestro Loh and the Waco Symphony in playing the first piano concerto of Johannes Brahms. This competition was named for American pianist Van Cliburn who, in 1958 during the Cold War, won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In tribute to that monumental feat in artistic diplomacy, the WSO will perform Tchaikovsky’s final 6th Symphony. We open this concert with music by American composer Jessie Montgomery. She wrote Starburst in 2012 for The Sphinx Virtuosi, the flagship ensemble of the Sphinx Organization. Montgomery writes the following to describe this work: “Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape.”

2025 Cliburn Gold Medalist

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