Brevard Philharmonic features Van Cliburn Piano Competition winner Joyce Yang, Feb. 26

Press release:

She electrified the Brevard Music Festival audience last summer, and now is your chance to see her again. On Sunday, February 26th at 3pm, pianist and international recording artist, Joyce Yang will bring her colorful musical personality to the Porter Center at Brevard College. She will join the Brevard Philharmonic playing Rachmaninoff. According to TheatreJones, “She is one of the great chamber music players of her generation.” The New York Times calls her playing,”…a knockout.”

Yang won the Silver Medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the youngest contestant that year. Since her spectacular debut, she has blossomed into an “Astonishing artist,” according to Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich. She has performed as a soloist with the great orchestras of the world including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to name only a few. She has worked with such distinguished conductors as Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, and Peter Oundjian.

The Philharmonic will open the afternoon with Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68. Brahms himself said that the writing took him a total of 21 years from sketches to its first performance, due to what others have called his “self critical fastidiousness.” The piece runs the gamut between stormy intensity, grand melody and gentle lyricism. A wonderful opportunity to hear the full Brevard Philharmonic sound.

Yang will join the orchestra with the familiar and glorious Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op.43, preceded by the orchestra and Rossini’s jubilant and energetic Barber of Seville. Critics have called Joyce Yang’s playing “Sumptuous”and “Vivid;” “…with an enormous palette of colors and emotional depth,” according to the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal.

The first of three celebrated guest conductors will take the podium for Sunday’s concert. He is Maestro Charles Jones Evans, who for 21 years, has been the conductor/music director of the Long Bay Symphony. Critics have called Evans’ conducting,“Exuberant,” lauding him as a “solid and polished performer.”

The Philharmonic is proud to offer an impressive lineup of guest conductors as an exciting enhancement to the rest of the season. Following Maestro Evans will be James Fellenbaum, Resident Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, and holding the baton for the final concert of the season will be Ken Lam, Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra- well known to all Brevard Music Festival fans.

The Brevard Philharmonic is a non profit organization comprised of local and regional musicians, presenting six concerts annually at Brevard College’s Porter Center for the Performing Arts. Its mission is to foster in the community and in our schools an appreciation for classical music and the performing arts.

The concert is sponsored by Renee Bresler and Wayne Steifle. The Brahms and the Paganini are sponsored by Ronnie and Pete Peterman.

Individual tickets are $25 to $35 per concert. Call 828-884-4221 for details. Or order with our new “pick your seat” option at brevardphilharmonic.org.