The Reading Symphony Orchestra celebrates Mozart’s 262nd birthday on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m. with a concert of all Mozart works at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Wyomissing.
Critically acclaimed pianist Boris Slutsky is featured in Mozart’s Piano Concerto, No. 21. The program also includes Mozart’s dramatic Overture to the famed opera Don Giovanni, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, one of his final three symphonies.
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by calling the RSO office at 610-373-7557 or emailing tickets@readingsymphony.org.
Additional RSO performances in the 2017-18 season include Soaring Strings on March 3 at the Scottish Rite Cathedral; Glorious Gershwin on April 14 at the Santander Performing Arts Center; and Picture This! on May 5 at the Santander Performing Arts Center.
About the Artists:
Consistently acclaimed for his exquisite tonal beauty and superb artistry, pianist Boris Slutsky emerged on the international music scene when he captured the First Prize along with every major prize, including the Audience Prize and Wihelm Backhaus Award, at the 1981 William Kapell International (University of Maryland) Piano Competition. His other accomplishments include first prizes at the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition and San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, and major prizes at the International Bach Competition in Memory of Glenn Gould, Gina Bachauer, Busoni, Rina Sala Gallo, and Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competitions.
Since his orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Youth Symphony in 1980, Mr. Slutsky has appeared on nearly every continent as soloist and recitalist, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Dimitri Kitaenko and Valery Gergiev. He has performed with the London Philharmonic, Stuttgart State Orchestra, and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Neuss am Rhein in Germany, Bem Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland, Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, the RAI Orchestra in Milan, KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea, and major orchestras in Spain, Russia, Columbia and Brazil. In South Africa, he has been soloist with the orchestras of Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. His North American engagements have included concerts with the Baltimore, Florida, Utah and Toronto Symphonies. Mr. Slutsky has been heard on recital series’ throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Latin America, and the Far East, making appearances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Kaufmann Concert Hall, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, National Concert Hall in Taipei, Performing Arts Center in Seoul, and the Teatro Colon in Bogota, among many others. Mr. Slutsky joined the faculty of The Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1993, where he currently serves as the Piano Department Chairman.
Andrew Constantine was appointed music director of the Reading Symphony Orchestra in April 2007 following a two-year search involving nearly three hundred conductors and was named Music Director of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in in July 2009. Previously, Constantine served as Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three years following an appointment by Yuri Temirkanov in 2004. Constantine works regularly with nearly all of the top British orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra as well as having strong relationships with a number of European and Scandinavian orchestras including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. In the United States, Constantine has developed a reputation for imaginative and compelling programming as well as a profound commitment to music education. In 2003, he was awarded the degree of Honorary Doctor of Music by the University of Leicester for his “contribution to music” and was also awarded a highly prestigious British NESTA Fellowship.
The RSO has blossomed under the artistic leadership of Maestros Harry Fahrbach, Walter Pfeiffer, Hans Kindler, Alexander Hilsberg, Louis Vyner, Sidney Rothstein, and its current music director Andrew Constantine. The orchestra currently performs six concerts annually on its Classics series with additional Pops performances, and collaborations with other community performing arts organizations.
For more information, please visit www.readingsymphony.org or call 610-373-7557.
