DAYTON — Dayton Performing Arts Alliance continues its 2022-2023 Masterworks Series with a concert featuring Tchaikovsky’s “Polish” Symphony and pianist Spencer Myer who will perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Feb. 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. Tickets are on sale now and start at $5. For tickets, call 937-228-3630 or visit www.daytonperformingarts.org/tickets.
Acting conductor Patrick Reynold leads the Philharmonic in a Polish-themed orchestral composition, including music from Polish composers Grażyna Bacewicz and Frédéric Chopin. Bacewicz, a Polish composer and violinist, is the second Polish female composer to achieve national and international recognition.
Chopin’s piano concerto was written before he was 20 years old. He performed and premiered the concerto in Warsaw, Poland in 1830. Critically acclaimed pianist Spencer Myer joins the Philharmonic for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor. Known for his “musical intelligence” and “giving the impression he is playing music, not a piano,” Washington Post. Myer replaces Janina Fialkowska. Fialkowska was scheduled to perform Paderewski’s Piano Concerto No. 2 for this Masterworks performance but is unable to appear due to surgery that prohibits her from traveling from Europe.
“Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto is a perfect blending of virtuosity and introspection, full of beauty and magic,” said Myer. “Chopin at his finest! Performing this piece with the DPO will be a dream come true for me.”
The final piece of the evening is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 3 in D Major. Nicknamed “Polish” because of the recurrence of many Polish dance rhythms throughout the final movement, the symphony premiered in Moscow in 1835. The symphony made its Western debut in London in 1899, where conductor, Sir August Manns, penned the nickname “Polish.”
Conductor, Patrick Reynolds will host a “Take Note Talk,” live in the Mead Theater of the Schuster Center from 6:30 – 7 p.m. before each evening’s concert. Reynolds provides an in-depth perspective of the evening’s programming. For additional information on the concert and to hear why Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman chose this repertoire and read the digital program, visit www.daytonperformingarts.org/tchaikovskys-polish-symphony.
Tchaikovsky’s “Polish” Symphony is part of DPAA’s 2022-2023 Masterworks Series, sponsored by AES Ohio Foundation, Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association and The Schiewetz Foundation. This Masterworks performance is a William S. Anderson Endowed Concert. DPAA’s Masterworks Series continues through the 2022- 2023 concert season with Perspectives: War and Peace (March 10-11) and Beethoven’s Second Symphony (May 19-20). All performances are held at the Schuster Center and begin at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets start at $5 and are on sale now by phone at 937-228-3630, online at www.daytonperformingarts.org/tickets or in person at the Box Office in the Wintergarden of the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton.
