South Florida Symphony Orchestra's 25th Anniversary Season Concludes With Rachmaninoff and Bruckner

South Florida Symphony Orchestra will close out its triumphant 25th anniversary season with a grand finale concert featuring Rachmaninoff's demanding Piano Concerto No. 3 performed by Svetlana Smolina; along with Bruckner's choral masterpiece, Te Deum, featuring the South Florida Symphony Chorus and vocalists Elaine Alvarez, soprano; Rehanna Thelwell, mezzo-soprano; Neil Nelson, bass-baritone; and Arnold Rawls, tenor. Led by Music Director Sebrina María Alfonso, the concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are on sale, now.

"Our final Masterworks concert at The Parker is a thing of beauty and the perfect way to say farewell to our milestone 25th anniversary season," said Maestra Alfonso. "We'll be celebrating Sergei Rachmaninoff's 150th birthday with his virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 3 featuring Svetlana Smolina's gorgeous yet technically masterful playing and presenting Bruckner's great, large-scale choral work of praise and thanksgiving, Te Deum. It has been an absolute joy to lead this incredible orchestra for 25 years, and I am thankful for every opportunity we have to share our love of this art form with our audiences."

Born April 1, 1873, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is considered to be one of the most demanding and beautiful of all of the Russian composer's piano concertos. The romantic, yet complicated piece, was originally intended as a spotlight soloist piece for Rachmaninoff's friend Josef Hofmann, who eventually elected not to perform it. So complex is this piece, that the biographical film drama "Shine" detailed pianist David Helfgott's quest to conquer the concerto resulting in his ultimate mental breakdown.

Performing Piano Concerto No. 3 will be audience favorite and recurring South Florida Symphony soloist Svetlana Smolina. Smolina has performed with orchestras and in recitals, worldwide. Notable appearances include the Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, New York Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Odessa and Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, New Florida Philharmonic, Shreveport Symphony and New York Chamber Orchestra. A frequent guest at international festivals, Smolina has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia Rising Stars, White Nights, Maggio Musicale, Mikkeli, Ruhr, Easter, Rotterdam Phillips Gergiev, International Gilmore, Settimane Musicali di Stresa, Michelangeli, Hennessy Artists Series at Hanoi Opera House, The Voice of Music in Upper Galilee, Royal Covent Garden Opera, Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, Mozarteum, Merkin Hall, Kravis Center, NJPAC, Gulbenkian Foundation, Grand Artists Series in Tel-Aviv and Academia Santa Cecilia in Rome. In addition to her touring engagements, Smolina is currently piano program director for European Academy of Fine Arts / Piano Conservatory (a division of Irish American University) and piano program director of the Philadelphia International Music Festival.

Anton Bruckner's Te Deum premiered in Vienna on May 2, 1885. The composer himself called the work "the pride of his life" and it stands as the composer's most overtly joyful hymn of praise and thanks. The piece was performed more than 30 times in his lifetime with the first performance in the United States occurring at the Cincinnati May Festival on May 26, 1892 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and soloists.

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