The Minnesota Orchestra reengages 23-year-old St. Paul pianist Andrew Staupe for four concerts featuring Russian and American music from the 19th and 20th centuries. Associate Conductor Mischa Santora leads the program, which includes Staupe's solo turn in Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony and blue cathedral by contemporary composer Jennifer Higdon.
The concert is performed three times at Orchestra Hall, on Thursday, February 28, at 11 a.m., Friday, February 29, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, March 1, at 8 p.m., with ticket prices ranging from $21 to $83.
The Soloist: Andrew Staupe, piano
St. Paul native Andrew Staupe has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra on two previous programs. In March 2005 he played Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals at Young People's and Adventures in Music Concerts, and at Sommerfest 2006 he performed Liszt's Second Piano Concerto under Osmo Vanska's direction.
Staupe, the winner of the 2006 WAMSO Young Artist Competition, is currently pursuing a D.M.A in piano performance at the University of Minnesota, where he has studied with Lydia Artymiw since 2001. He has been featured on A Prairie Home Companion and has given solo performances with the St. Paul Civic Symphony, Kenwood Chamber Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra.
Before narrowing his focus to piano performance, Staupe pursued acting, appearing in productions at the Guthrie Theater and Children's Theatre Company.
The Conductor: Mischa Santora
Mischa Santora, the Minnesota Orchestra's associate conductor since 2004, has been a guest conductor on five continents, leading such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent years, he has led the Orchestra in works ranging from Copland's Clarinet Concerto to Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.
Santora is in his seventh year as music director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and recently completed a multi-year tenure in the same position with Hungary's International Opera Festival Miskolc.
Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto: A virtuosic classic of youth and experience
Sergei Rachmaninoff was only 18 when he wrote the initial version of his First Piano Concerto in 1891; he revisited the work 26 years later, revamping the orchestration and solo writing. Rachmaninoff performed the concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1938 under conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. -- www.minnesotaorchestra.org
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