Palm Beach Symphony’s 50th Anniversary Season culminates with an apt program that celebrates Beethoven’s early work followed by one of his greatest. Acclaimed pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn uncovers the genius of the composer’s first full-length orchestral piece, Piano Concerto No. 2. The finale of this historic season soars to the rafters as the Symphony is joined by Frost Chorale, Frost Bella Voce, Frost Symphonic Choir and Frost Chamber Singers under the direction of Dr. Amanda Quist to perform Beethoven’s groundbreaking Symphony No. 9 “Choral” with its “Ode to Joy.”

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Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Piano

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

Piano virtuoso Emanuel Ax joins Palm Beach Symphony in a program of treasured masterworks and new discoveries. The acclaimed pianist performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major. K. 503, composed the same year as The Marriage of Figaro and displaying the same melodic genius and magnificent breadth. The Symphony will join Tchaikovsky on his exploration of fate, melancholy, whimsy and joy in that composer’sSymphony No. 4. The program features the world premiere of a composition by Aaron Jay Kernis commissioned for the Palm Beach Symphony by Ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter in honor of Leonard and Judy Lauder.

Emanuel Ax, Piano

Santiago Rodriguez has been praised as "a phenomenal pianist" by The New York Times and "among the finest pianists in the world" by The Baltimore Sun. His extraordinary talent has graced stages around the globe, including performances with prestigious orchestras such as the London Symphony, the Dresden Staatskapelle, and the Yomiuri-Nippon Symphony Orchestra of Japan.

This change brings an added layer of excitement and anticipation to an already outstanding season, and we are confident that Santiago Rodriguez will deliver a performance that will leave our audience in awe. We extend our sincere gratitude to Mr. Rodriguez for graciously accepting this opportunity on short notice.

Santiago Rodriguez, Piano

Following his performance with the Symphony that was livestreamed to remote viewers during the pandemic, violin virtuoso Pinchas Zuckerman returns to perform three lush and joyful works: Tchaikovsky’s melodic Sérénade mélancolique and that composer’s sentimental “Mélodie” from Souvenir d’un lieu cher paired with Mozart’s buoyant Violin Concerto No. 3 “Strassburg.” This uplifting concert on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday opens with Hailstork’s inspirational Four Hymns Without Words and culminates with Sibelius’ majestic and powerful Symphony No. 2.

Pinchas Zukerman, Violin

Palm Beach Symphony presents a concert that will transport audiences with works from great composers inspired by their travels and journey into the repertoire’s future with a world premiere. Acclaimed violinist Akiko Suwanai performs Tchaikovsky’s only Violin Concerto, a bravura and lyrical work inspired by that composer’s visit to Switzerland. Palm Beach Symphony accompanies Dvořák on his travel to the United States with Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” a work filled with diversity that matches the nation itself and one of the greatest ever composed here. Maestro Schwarz will lead the Symphony in a world premiere of his own composition commissioned for the Palm Beach Symphony by Don and Mary Thompson in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Palm Beach Symphony.

Akiko Suwanai, Violin

Piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman returns to open this Golden Anniversary Season performing Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, the last work that the great composer added to his repertoire as a pianist and one that is filled with technical challenges for the performer and rich rewards for the audience. The opulent splendor evoking Vienna’s Golden Age found in Richard Strauss’ Suite from Der Rosenkavalier gives the program a fitting start for this milestone season. The program begins with the world premiere of a composition by Bright Sheng which was commissioned by Professor and Mrs. Paul du Quenoy, and The Common Sense Society, with support of the Palm Beach Freedom Institute.

Yefim Bronfman, Piano

Acclaimed piano virtuoso Maria João Pires makes a rare American appearance in the season finale joining Maestro Gerard Schwarz and the Palm Beach Symphony to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, which brilliantly blends the composer’s unique ability to both lift the heaviest heart and stir its deepest emotions. The program opens with the Florida premiere of the orchestral version of Adolphus Hailstork’s Monuments for solo trombone and string orchestra featuring Palm Beach Symphony Principal Trombone and Latin GRAMMY winner Domingo Pagliuca. The season culminates with the Symphony performing for the first time Franck’s Symphony in D Minor, which was once such a beloved staple of concert seasons that it appeared in programs at Carnegie Hall six times is less than two months in 1927.

Monuments

Grammy-winner Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated violinists of his era, joins Maestro Gerard Schwarz and Palm Beach Symphony to perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, arguably one of the masterworks of violin virtuosity and one to which Bell has added a cadenza of his own composition which he will perform.  The concert opens with the Symphony performing Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture (“Fingals’ Cave”) and itsstirring musical summoning of nature’s drama and beauty found along the Scottish coast. The evening culminates with the Symphony performing Beethoven’s landmark Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major (“Eroica”) that launched his heroic period and broke new ground by creating a symphony composed like none ever before.

Bell, Mendelssohn and Beethoven

Maestro Gerard Schwarz and the Palm Beach Symphony are joined by pianist Misha Dichter, one of America’s most popular artists. Dichter performs a beloved work by one of America’s greatest composers with Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F Major and its uplifting fusion of jazz and dance rhythms. In a highlight of the season, the Symphony presents the world premiere of a work it commissioned from Pulitzer Prize winner Joseph Schwantner, one of the most prominent American composers today. The program also features Stravinsky’s beloved celebration of Russian folklore with The Firebird.

Schwantner, Gershwin and the Firebird

Called by Gramophone magazine as “America’s favorite mezzo,” and the New York Times as “an artist to treasure,” mezzo-soprano Susan Graham joins Maestro Gerard Schwarz and the Palm Beach Symphony to perform arias from Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro and Le Nozze di Figaro,” Lehár’s “The Merry Widow” and Berlioz’ “Les Troyens” as well as selections from The Great American Songbook. The program also features the Symphony performing Debussy’s sensual and evocative Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) and Shostakovich’s dramatic and powerful Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93, created after Stalin’s death by the great composer whose career that Russian leader had nearly ended.

Operatic and Symphonic Treasures

Hailed by The Washington Post as “one of the great American pianists,” Garrick Ohlsson joins Maestro Gerard Schwarz and the Palm Beach Symphony to perform Beethoven’s last piano concerto, Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73, known as “Emperor,” featuring the trademark grandeur of the composer’s heroic period. Palm Beach Symphony opens the program with Sibelius’ atmospheric Night Ride and Sunrise, Op. 55 and closes it as it revels in the popular orchestral showcase of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78popularly known as the “Organ Symphony.”

The Emperor and The Organ

One of the foremost violinists of our time, Sarah Chang, joins Maestro Gerard Schwarz to open the season performing the virtuoso passages and rich melodies of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26. In reviewing her EMI Classics recording of Brahms and Bruch violin concertos with Kurt Masur and the Dresdner Philharmonie, Gramophone magazine reported, “To listen to Sarah Chang is to be bathed in the sheer beauty of her sound. It can yield some sublime moments: the way the violin line emerges out of the orchestra in the first movement of the Bruch, or the sheer finesse of every phrase in both works, virtuosity worn lightly but unmistakable none the less.” Palm Beach Symphony continues the dazzling season opener by adding two works to its repertoire as it delivers the exuberant Rounds for String Orchestra by David Diamond that cheered war-weary audiences in WWII and became his most popular work before closing the concert with the lush harmonies and melodies of Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73.

Palm Beach Symphony

Apr 25, 2024

Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Piano

Mar 6, 2024

Emanuel Ax, Piano

Feb 5, 2024

Santiago Rodriguez, Piano

Jan 15, 2024

Pinchas Zukerman, Violin

Dec 13, 2023

Akiko Suwanai, Violin

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