Palm Beach Symphony's Golden Anniversary Continues with More Milestones in December

 Violin virtuoso Akiko Suwanai makes her Palm Beach Symphony debut in a concert that will also feature the world premiere of Sinfonietta, composed by Music Director Gerard Schwarz, as he leads the orchestra in another landmark Golden Anniversary concert on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Dreyfoos Concert Hall at the Kravis Center.

“It’s a thrill to welcome Akiko for her debut with the Symphony, which will make this 50th-anniversary milestone celebration all the more special,” said Maestro Schwarz. “Her passionate interpretation of the repertoire is uniquely captured in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, a beloved, timeless piece that’s both a technical challenge and a fiery showcase for a soloist of Akiko’s caliber.” 

Maestro Schwarz’s Sinfonietta, which opens the concert, was commissioned by Don and Mary Thompson to celebrate the Symphony’s 50th anniversary. 

“Don and Mary have a long and devoted history of commissioning works, often chamber music, and the results have been both excellent works and extraordinary additions to the repertoire,” Maestro Schwarz said in his program note. “This Sinfonietta is dedicated to Don and Mary with admiration and respect. They requested that I write a short tone poem. Most of my music is not programmatic, but I was excited by the challenge. My intention had been to write a symphonic work, but with the programmatic elements, it is now a Sinfonietta. The work is in three movements. The first is a fanfare, the second is an arioso with a long melodic line, and the third is a rhythmically complex contrapuntal finale.”

After intermission, Palm Beach Symphony accompanies Dvořák on his travel to the United States with Symphony No. 9 From the New World, one of the repertoire’s most popular works and one of the greatest ever composed on American soil.

Suwanai has established herself as one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Since winning the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990 at the age of 18, she has enjoyed a flourishing career, performing chamber music worldwide and engaging at the highest-level with orchestras and conductors. Other season highlights for Suwanai include: recording Vaughan-Williams’ The Lark Ascending with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra alongside conductor and close collaborator, Jun Märkl; returning to Toshio Hosokawa’s music to play Genesis as part of the Gaida Festival; and joining Festival Strings Lucerne at the Hong Kong Arts Festival for Vieuxtem’s Violin Concerto No.5. Another prominent feature of this season is a return to the violin concertos of Mozart with a range of leading orchestras and performances of the complete concertos at the Tokyo based International Music Festival Nippon, of which she has been Artistic Director since 2012. In addition to notable concerto appearances, Suwanai will give significant recital tours with pianist Evgeni Bozhanov performing Brahms’ three Sonatas for Violin and Piano, which will become the focus of her next release for Universal Music in Spring 2024.

A gifted composer and arranger, Maestro Schwarz has expanded his compositional activities in recent years. He completed five new arrangements of holiday music that was recorded by the Palm Beach Symphony for CBS12 in 2022, and his latest version of In Memoriam for Euphonium and Orchestra was premiered at the Eastern Music Festival in 2022 with Demondrae Thurman as soloist. His Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano, released on Good Child Recordings, was called a work of “sophistication and intelligence” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). Earlier works include In Memoriam and Rudolf and Jeanette (dedicated to the memory of his grandparents who perished in the Holocaust) – both recorded by Naxos; Human Spirit, a composition for choir and orchestra and his duos for violin and cello which were called “redolent of the gentle humanism central to much of the music Schwarz loves to conduct” by The Seattle Times. A Journey, a large scale orchestral tone poem, received its world premiere at the Eastern Music Festival in July 2012. Schwarz’s work for concert band Above and Beyond was premiered by The United States Marine Band in 2013 and is now available on Naxos, recorded by the Marine Band for broadcast on PBS in November 2018. His newest work for that ensemble, a new version of Rudolf and Jeannette was premiered in February 2016. His orchestral work, A Poem, was given its first performance by the Hartford Symphony. In 2018 his Triptych for violin and cello was premiered at Bargemusic and his work for euphonium and band, based on In Memoriam, was premiered in Korea, as was his Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra. Adagio, based on Webern’s Langsamer Satz premiered at the Eastern Music Festival in July 2019.

Tickets are $25-$95 and may be purchased at  PalmBeachSymphony.org; by phone at (561) 281-0145; and in person at the Palm Beach Symphony Box Office weekdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at 400 Hibiscus Street, Suite 100, West Palm Beach.  The Kravis Center is 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL  33401.

Proud sponsors of Palm Beach Symphony include Cindy Anderson and Jerome Canty, Max and Christine Ansbacher, Mrs. James N. Bay, Alan Benaroya, Arthur & Mara Benjamin Foundation, JoAnne Berkow, Kathy Lee Bickham and John Bickham, Leslie Rogers Blum, Jeffrey and Tina Bolton, James R. Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui / FINDLAY Galleries, Braman Motorcars, Thomas and Carol Bruce, CIBC Private Wealth, Amy and John Collins, The Colony Hotel, CORPGOV, Suzanne Mott Dansby, The David Minkin Foundation, The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, Willard H. Dow and Kelly Winter, Dr. Richard and Diane Farber, Bill and Kem Frick/The Frick Foundation, Inc., Gerry Gibian and Marjorie Yashar, Morgan Glazar/Tom James Company, Paul and Sandra Goldner, Douglas and Jo Gressette, Steel Grove, Irwin and Janet Gusman, Thomas E. Harvey & Cathleen P. Black Foundation, Doris Hastings Foundation, Carol S. and Joseph Andrew Hays, John Herrick, Addison Hines Charitable Trust, George Hines, HSS Florida, IPO Edge, IYC, Charles and Ann Johnson/The C and A Johnson Family Foundation, Elaine Kay, Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Gary and Linda Lachman/The Lachman Family Foundation, Patricia Lambrecht/The Lambrecht Family Foundation, Tova Leidesdorf, Lugano Diamonds, The Honorable Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, The McNulty Charitable Foundation, Metals Mint, David Moscow, NetJets, Palm Beach Design Masters, Patrick and Milly Park/The Park Foundation, Nancy and Ellis J. Parker, III, PNC Private Bank, Lois Pope, Provident Jewelry, Ari Rifkin/The Len-Ari Foundation, Dr. Martha Rodriguez and Dr. Jesus Perez-Mendez, Karen Rogers, Ronald Rosenfeld, David Schafer, Seth Sprague Foundation, Robin B. Smith, Kimberly V. Strauss, Dodie and Manley Thaler and the Thaler/Howell Foundation, Don and Mary Thompson, Jerome and Carol Trautschold, Sieglinde Wikstrom/The Wikstrom Foundation, and The Ann Eden Woodward Foundation/James and Judy Woods. Programs are also sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

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