Harrisburg Orchestra Presents ‘Catch A Rising Star’

The Masterworks concert will be performed on Jan. 12 and 13 at the Forum in Harrisburg. Maestro Stuart Malina will begin the concert with the hauntingly beautiful “The Swan of Tuonela” by Sibelius. The work depicts a hero of legend from Finnish mythology charged with an impossible task. “The Swan” carries listeners along the hero’s journey that is both somber and majestic. The program continues with Chopin’s melodic masterpiece “Piano Concerto No.1” featuring Binienda on the piano. The concerto evokes romantic and soulful memories through its sure melody and lovely harmony.

The work captures Chopin’s genius as the greatest poet of the piano. Binienda was invited to perform with the Harrisburg Symphony by Maestro Malina, after the Akron, Ohio teen won the inaugural Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Rising Stars Concerto Competition last year. Binienda won the Grand Prize performing Chopin’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.” Binienda’s biography is below. The January Masterworks concert concludes with Bela Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra,” one of the greatest classical works of the 20th Century. The concerto is a brilliant accomplishment for the Hungarian composer, who died from leukemia less than a year after finishing the work. “Catch A Rising Star” is generously sponsored by the Josiah W. and Bessie H. Kline Foundation. Performances will be held Saturday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. at the Forum, located at 5th and Walnut streets in downtown Harrisburg.

A pre-concert discussion will be held one hour prior to both the Saturday and Sunday concerts led by WITF public radio personality Dick Strawser. The discussion is free of charge for ticket holders. Masterworks tickets are $10, $25, $38, $41, $44, and $51, depending on seating area. Tickets and program notes are available online at HarrisburgSymphony.org, or by calling (717) 545-5527. Later in January, the Harrisburg Symphony will perform “An Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein Classics” as part of the Capital BlueCross Pops series. The concert features classic songs from beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals “The Sound of Music,” “Carousel,” “Oklahoma,” “The King and I,” and “South Pacific.” Joining the HSO will be Broadway soloists Melissa Errico, Gary Mauer, and William Michals. -- www.harrisburgsymphony.org