Prize-winning pianists to play two big piano concertos
January 11, 2017
- Nakahara conducts big, romantic Lizst and Grieg concertos
- Pianists won 2014 and 2015 Southeastern Piano Festival competitions
- Large screens to show live, up-close concert video
- Previous multimedia concert in 2014 completely sold out
Two concerto competition winners from the Southeastern Piano Festival headline the South Carolina Philharmonic’s Up Close and Personal multimedia concert 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the Koger Center.
This concert partially resurrects a concert program postponed by the October 2015 flood in the Midlands, as Music Director Morihiko Nakahara hopes to finally present works by Edvard Grieg and Jean Sibelius and 2014 Arthur Fraser International Concerto Competition winner Elisabeth Tsai. Tsai makes a belated S.C. Phil debut with Grieg’s famed Piano Concerto. The 2015 competition winner, Derek Chung, joins her on the program to perform Franz Liszt’s First Piano Concerto. The February evening ends with Sibelius’ First Symphony – a portrayal of his native Finland’s stark, wintry landscape.
Up Close and Personal is sponsored by SCE&G. Elisabeth Tsai is sponsored by David C. McQuillan.
The multimedia component of the concert is sponsored by Rick Palyok. For the second time in its Masterworks Series, the S.C. Phil hangs large screens on either side of the stage to provide a multimedia experience. At Up Close and Personal, real-time and up-close concert video will play on the screens to give every patron unique viewing angles of the orchestra and the best seat in the house.
The S.C. Phil’s previous multimedia Masterworks concert in 2014 resulted in a complete sellout of the Koger Center.
A free, preconcert lecture by Nakahara begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Koger Center auditorium, as he offers his unique insight into the evening’s program.
Tickets are $53, $45, $37, $29 and $23. They are available online 24-hours a day at KogerCenterForTheArts.com, or from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday by phone at 803.251.2222 or at the Koger Center Box Office at Park and Greene streets. Student and military discounts are available. Self-parking is $10 and Southern Valet provides valet parking for $10.
Every season, since 2011, the S.C. Phil selects a group of charity partners from the Midlands to help raise awareness for their causes. Each charity is featured at one Masterworks concert during the season. The partner for this concert is Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter.
ABOUT PALMETTO PLACE CHILDREN’S SHELTER
It is the mission of Palmetto Place to provide a safe and caring environment for children and teens who have faced abuse, abandonment, neglect and/or homelessness. Our shelter is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and has 55 beds. In addition to food, clothing, and shelter, we provide medical and mental health care, crisis and adjustment counseling, and social and recreational activities. Since the shelter was founded in 1977, more than 7,000 children and teens have found a safe, nurturing home at Palmetto Place. Learn more at PalmettoPlaceShelter.org.
