Hailed by The Washington Post as “one of the great American pianists,” Garrick Ohlsson joins Maestro Gerard Schwarz and the Palm Beach Symphony on Thursday, December 1 at 8 p.m. at theKravis Center for the Performing Arts.
“Garrick is one of the most extraordinary pianists alive,” said Maestro Schwarz. “I’ve worked with him in repertoire from very modernmusic to the most traditional. We’re performingBeethoven’s “Emperor” concerto together, which is the last, and probably most often programmed, of his five concertos. It is a great masterpiece!What a thrill to perform this piece with Garrick at the piano.”
Since his triumph as the 1970 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where he won the Gold Medal (and remains the single American to have done so), Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Since the re-opening of concert activity in summer 2021, he has appeared with the Indianapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Toronto, and Cleveland orchestras as well as in recital in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, at the Ravinia and Tanglewood summer festivals and on tour in the U.S. with colleague Kirill Gerstein. The current season includes orchestras in Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, San Diego, Spain, Poland, and Czech Republic. A GRAMMY® winner, Ohlsson has also been honored with the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and received the 1998 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is the 2014 recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music and in August 2018 the Polish Deputy Culture Minister awarded him with the Gloria Artis Gold Medal for cultural merit.
The program also features two Palm Beach Symphony repertoire premieres. “We’re opening with a work by Sibelius most people don’t know, Night Ride and Sunrise,” Maestro Schwarz said. “Evocative of Sibelius’ voice, it is fascinating, beautiful, and extraordinary. For the pièce de résistancethat evening, we are performing Saint-Saëns ‘Organ’Symphony in a way that is especially powerful to hear live. It has a beautiful, powerful, engaging part for the organ and the fantastic organ we will be using at the Kravis Center has a vibrancy that’s going to rattle every bone in your body. It is one of my favorite pieces.”
Internationally recognized for his moving performances, innovative programming, and extensive catalog of recordings, Maestro Schwarz is a leader both in the southeast region and globally. Locally, he is also the Music Director of the Frost Symphony Orchestra and the Distinguished Professor of Music, Conducting and Orchestral Studies at University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Nationally, he is the Music Director of the All-Star Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival and Mozart Orchestra of New York as well as Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony and Conductor Emeritus of the Mostly Mozart Festival. A prolific recording artist with 14 GRAMMY Award nominations, his extensive catalogue of more than 350 recordings on 11 labels includes “The Gerard Schwarz Collection,” a 30-CD box set. In his five decades as a respected classical musician and conductor, Maestro Schwarz has received hundreds of honors and accolades including nine Emmy® Awards, eight ASCAP Awards and numerous “Stereo Review” andOvation Awards. He holds the Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University, was the first American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America and has received numerous honorary doctorates. His memoir, “Behind the Baton,” was released by Amadeus Press in March 2017.
Audiences are invited to enjoy pre-concert music provided by a low brass choir from Lake Worth High School under the direction of Dr. Tiffany Cox, Director of Bands.
The Masterworks concerts continue at the Kravis Center Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano (Jan. 30); Misha Dichter, piano (March 14); Joshua Bell, violin (April 16); and Maria João Pires, piano (May 15).
Tickets are $25-$95 andmay be purchased at PalmBeachSymphony.org, by calling (561) 281-0145, and at the Palm Beach Symphony Box Office weekdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at 400 Hibiscus Street, Suite 100, West Palm Beach. The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts is located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach.
Proud sponsors of Palm Beach Symphony include Max and Christine Ansbacher, Mrs. James N. Bay, JoAnne Berkow, David C. and Eunice Bigelow, Leslie Rogers Blum, James R. Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui/Findlay Galleries, Braman Motorcars, Thomas and Carol Bruce, CIBC Private Wealth, The Colony Hotel, The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, Echo Fine Properties, Bill and Kem Frick/The Frick Foundation, Inc., Paul and Sandra Goldner, Peter and Felicia Gottsegen/Gottsegen Family Foundation, Irwin and Janet Gusman, Thomas E. Harvey & Cathleen P. Black Foundation, Doris Hastings Foundation, John Herrick, Addison Hines Charitable Trust, George Hines, HSS Florida, IYC, Charles and Ann Johnson/The C and A Johnson Family Foundation, Barbara and William Karatz Fund/William Karatz and Joan G. Smith, Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation, Gary and Linda Lachman/The Lachman Family Foundation, Patricia Lambrecht, Lugano Diamonds, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, The McNulty Charitable Foundation, David Moscow, NetJets, Palm Beach Design Masters, Patrick and Milly Park, PNC Private Bank, Lois Pope, Provident Jewelry, Ari Rifkin, Karen and Kenneth Rogers, Ronald Rosenfeld, David Schafer, Robin B. Smith, Dodie and Manley Thaler and the Thaler/Howell Foundation, Jerome and Carol Trautschold, SieglindeWikstrom/The Wikstrom Foundation, and The Ann Eden Woodward Foundation/James and Judy Woods. Programs are also sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
ABOUT PALM BEACH SYMPHONY
Palm Beach Symphony is South Florida’s premier orchestra known for its diverse repertoire and commitment to community. Founded in 1974, this 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization adheres to a mission of engaging, educating, and entertaining the greater community of the Palm Beaches through live performances of inspiring orchestral music. The orchestra is celebrated for delivering spirited performances by first-rate musicians and distinguished guest artists. Recognized by The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County with a 2020 Muse Award for Outstanding Community Engagement, Palm Beach Symphony continues to expand its education and community outreach programs with children’s concerts, student coaching sessions and master classes, instrument donations and free public concerts that have reached more than64,000 students in recent years. For more information, visit www.palmbeachsymphony.org.
