Leong to bring season to a close
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra will bring its 2021-22 season to a close with an all-Beethoven program featuring Canadian violinist Kerson Leong.
Back to Beethoven performances take place at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Friday, May 13, Penticton’s Cleland Theatre on Saturday, May 14, and at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, May 15.
“Canada is richly blessed with a roster of internationally renowned violin soloists and Kerson Leong is quickly assuming his place in their midst,” said OSO Music Director Rosemary Thomson in a news release. “His technical mastery is so complete that he makes scaling this Everest of a concerto look easy, allowing him to fully express the depth of musical expression that it demands with a maturity that belies his tender age.”
Leong will shine in the iconic Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61. Now a revered and acclaimed work with orchestras around the world, Beethoven’s concerto received little more than polite acceptance from 19th century audiences.
Kerson performs on an ‘ex Bohrer’ Guarneri del Gesu violin courtesy of Canimex Inc. in Drummondville, Que.
Kerson first gained international attention by winning the Junior First Prize at the Menuhin Competition 2010 in Oslo.
After subsequent debuts at major international festivals as well as four return performances with the Oslo Philharmonic, he has since distinguished himself as a powerful musician.
The OSO will perform a towering masterpiece of the classical repertoire for the second half of the program: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (Eroica).
It is described as an astonishing watershed in the history of orchestral music and a stirring declaration of artistic and spiritual independence.
OSO is also releasing its first album, Canadian Soundscapes. CDs will be available for purchase at all three concerts, as well as instructions for accessing it through iTunes and other digital platforms.
Tickets and livestream access (for Friday’s performance) are available through okanagansymphony.com/tickets.