Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra to Celebrate Mother's Day with Pianist Soyeon Kate Lee, 5/8

Celebrate Mother's Day with the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra (HSO) and witness the debut of Korean-American pianist Soyeon Kate Lee under the baton of Maestro Stuart Chafetz at 4 pm on Sunday, May 8. Lee, who is hailed by the New York Times as a pianist with "a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style," makes her debut with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major. The concert concludes with Brahms's Symphony No. 4 in E Minor - considered one of the darkest and deepest pieces written in the 19th century. Tickets start from $34 and are on sale now. Please note: Maestro Chafetz kindly replaces Maestro John Nelson, who has been advised against air travel due to a recent illness. We wish Maestro Nelson all the best for a speedy recovery.

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major is an unparalleled gem of the repertoire. Composed in 1786 - two months before the production of Figaro - it is known as the most lyrical of all Mozart's concertos for its "aura as luminous, warm, and radiant as it is discreet." The Piano Concerto No. 23 boasts opera-like melodies and nimble woodwind coloring, and features Mozart at his most ebullient and intense. The popular concerto is especially loved for its expressive middle movement in the rare key of F sharp minor (Mozart's only piece composed in this key).

Brahms's powerful and riveting Symphony No. 4 in E Minor - his "neue traurige Symphonie" (new tragic symphony) as he once called it - was the last of his symphonies. Completed in 1885, its finale presents one of the most rigorous yet subtle chaconnes (continuous variations) ever composed. On witnessing the rehearsals of this great symphony, Brahms's friend - pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow - wrote, "stupendous, quite original, quite new, individual and rock-like. Breathes incomparable energy from start to finish."

About Soyeon Kate Lee: First prize winner of the 2010 Naumburg International Piano Competition and the 2004 Concert Artist Guild International Competition, Korean-American pianist Soyeon Kate Lee has been lauded by the Washington Post for her "stunning command of the keyboard." She has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras, including The Cleveland Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in the Dominican Republic, Orquesta de Valencia, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic. In recent seasons, she has given recitals at New York's Zankel, Alice Tully, and Merkin halls, Kennedy Center, Ravinia Festival, Madrid's National Auditorium, and San Francisco's Herbst Theatre.

A Naxos recording artist, Lee records a double CD of Scriabin piano works this season following the Scarlatti and Liszt albums released earlier. A second prize and Mozart Prize winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and a laureate of the Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, she has worked extensively with Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, Ursula Oppens, and Jerome Lowenthal. Lee is the co-founder and artistic director of Music by the Glass, a concert series dedicated to bringing together young professionals in New York City. A Yamaha Artist, Lee is an Assistant Professor of Piano at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, and lives in Cincinnati with her husband, pianist Ran Dank, and their one year old son, Noah.

About Stuart Chafetz: Stuart Chafetz is a conductor with a dynamic podium demeanor and a refined sense of audience engagement. This season, Chafetz will be on the podium in Naples, Phoenix, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cincinnati, Hawaii, Columbus, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Louisiana, Grand Rapids and others. Previous conducting appearances include the orchestras of Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Florida, Houston, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Louisiana, Naples, New Mexico, Phoenix, San Francisco Ballet and Virginia.

Chafetz has had the privilege to work with renowned artists such as Chris Botti, Roberta Flack, George Benson, Richard Chamberlain, The Chieftains, Jennifer Holliday, John Denver, Marvin Hamlisch, Thomas Hampson, Wynonna Judd, Jim Nabors, Randy Newman, Jon Kimura Parker and Bernadette Peters. He previously held posts as resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. As principal timpanist of the Honolulu Symphony for twenty years, Chafetz would also conduct the annual Nutcracker performances with Ballet Hawaii and principals from the American Ballet Theatre. It was during that time that Chafetz led numerous concerts with the Maui Symphony and Pops.

In the summers, Chafetz spends his time at the Chautauqua Institution, where he conducts the annual Fourth of July and Opera Pops concerts with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in addition to his role as that orchestra's timpanist. When not on the podium, Chafetz makes his home near San Francisco, CA, with his wife Ann Krinitsky

Tickets: Tickets range from $34 to $92 and are available at the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra Box Office by calling (808) 94-MUSIC - (808) 946-8742 from Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. HSO advance sales end at noon on Thursday, May 5, but are available through the Blaisdell Box Office until concert time.

O'ahu Student & Military Discounts:

· Student tickets: $13 rush tickets for any seat beginning Monday, May 2.

· Active Duty Military tickets: $20 rush tickets for any seat beginning Monday, May 2.

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