DSO to perform virtuoso works as it bids farewell to long serving maestro

Feb. 22—The Danville Symphony Orchestra resumes Maestro Jeremy Swerling's farewell season as he and the orchestra welcome virtuoso American violinist Luke Hsu to the Fischer Theatre on Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. for a performance of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto and Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

Luke Hsu was born in Shanghai, raised in Houston and currently lives in Berlin.

A laureate of the Queen Elisabeth competition, an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels, Luke has won awards at many of the most prestigious violin competitions in the world. The Montreal Gazette wrote: "Luke is in a class by himself with total command of the instrument, fearless technical facility, assertive projection of musical ideas, and rapport with the audience."

Maestro Swerling commented that "Pictures at an Exhibition" was chosen for this program last spring as a small way to acknowledge solidarity with the people of Kyiv and Ukraine. It was originally a piano piece of 10 movements written by Russian composer Mussorgsky after he had attended a memorial exhibition of his friend Victor Hartmann's paintings.

Among the 10 paintings is the famous Great Gate of Kiev (Kyiv), the awe-inspiring finale of the piece. Swerling continued, "It is a brilliant orchestral work and quite challenging for all sections of the orchestra, very colorful and filled with character. The brass section really loves it, so you know that there will be some resounding musical 'fireworks' in this exciting masterpiece. For lovers of great music, there's nothing better!"

"We're excited for our community to attend Maestro Swerling's final concerts," DSO Executive Director Kay Welch said. "The historic Fischer (Theatre) is a beautiful backdrop to this artistic culmination. We couldn't be more grateful for Maestro Swerling's commitment to the arts in our community over these past decades."