PB Symphony plans six-concert golden anniversary season; four world premieres set

For its 50th anniversary season, Palm Beach Symphony will present six major soloists, four world premieres by eminent composers, and conclude with a performance of Beethoven’s epic Ninth Symphony.

Joining conductor Gerard Schwarz for the six-concert series at the Kravis Center will be pianists Yefim Bronfman, Vladimir Feltsman, Emanuel Ax and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, as well as violinists Akiko Suwanai and Pinchas Zukerman. Also planned are new works by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Bright Sheng, Aaron Jay Kernis and Schwarz himself.

“There is always a temptation with a milestone such as a 50th anniversary to focus on legacy and rest on laurels but that kind of approach could mean there might not be a 75th anniversary season,” Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont said in a prepared statement. “The upcoming 2023-2024 season celebrates orchestral music in the here and now with programs and artists that could be found on any of the world’s great stages, while also expanding our vision into the future with the commission and premieres of works by four brilliant composers.”

All of the concerts will take place at the Kravis Center’s Dreyfoos Hall in West Palm Beach.

The first concert, set for Nov. 19, features Bronfman in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, the suite from Richard Strauss’ opera “Der Rosenkavalier,” and “Freedom Overture,” a new work by the Chinese-American composer Sheng. Winner of a MacArthur “genius” grant, Sheng teaches at the University of Michigan.

Suwanai, a celebrated Japanese violinist, performs the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on Dec. 13. A new work by Schwarz will be premiered, and the concert also will include the “New World” Symphony (No. 9) by Antonín Dvořák.

On Jan. 15, violinist Zukerman brings the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3, along with two short works by Tchaikovsky — “Serenade Mélancholique” and “Souvenir d’un lieu cher” — to the stage of the Kravis. The concert, on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 95th birthday, opens with African American composer Adolphus Hailstork’s “Four Hymns Without Words” and ends with the Symphony No. 2 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Feltsman is the soloist in the Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg on Feb. 5, with Rimsky-Korsakov's popular symphonic poem “Scheherazade” also on the program. Additionally, a world premiere piece by Zwilich is scheduled; a Pulitzer Prize winner, Zwilich is a native of Miami and a part-time resident of Pompano Beach.

Music by Mozart, his Piano Concerto No. 25, is featured on March 6, with Ax as the soloist. A new work by Kernis will be performed, and the orchestra also will play the Symphony No. 4 of Tchaikovsky.

Wrapping up the season is an all-Beethoven concert on April 25. Solzhenitsyn will be the soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 2, one of Beethoven’s earliest works. The concert also features one of the composer’s last works, the inimitable Ninth Symphony, with the orchestra joined by four choral groups from the University of Miami: the Frost Chorale, Frost Bella Voce, Frost Symphonic Choir and Frost Chamber Singers. The four soloists for the Ninth’s choral finale have not been announced.

Subscription packages begin at $120 for the six-concert Masterworks Series. Current subscribers may renew beginning now with new subscriptions available June 26. Tickets to individual concerts will go on sale Sept. 5. Tickets are available at PalmBeachSymphony.org by calling 561-281-0145, and at the Palm Beach Symphony Box Office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at 400 Hibiscus St., West Palm Beach.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Symphony's season to include four world premieres