A Midsummer Night's Dream, with guest conductor Christoph Campestrini. The program also includes pianist Olga Kern performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1 – the subject of her latest recording. A little Brahms Hungarian Dances round out this Musically Speaking evening.

Christoph Campestrini is truly an international figure, speaking six languages and having conducted more than 80 symphony orchestras on all five continents. He is renowned in his field as one of the leading conducting talents of nineteenth and twentieth century repertoire and has appeared with some of the finest orchestras from Cairo to Hong Kong. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is proud to welcome back this critically acclaimed conductor, who is also a great communicator. Being no stranger to a microphone is important in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Musically Speaking concerts that see the conductor speak to the audience about the composers and their music.

Olga Kern is a striking young Russian pianist whose vivid stage presence and extraordinary technique has captivated fans and critics alike over the years. Born into a family of true musicians – her great-great grandmother was a friend of Tchaikovsky and her great-grandmother sang with Rachmaninoff – she started playing piano at the age of five and rapidly became a virtuoso performer.

Noted for being the first woman in over thirty years to win the Van Cliburn International Piano competition, she is a laureate of eleven international competitions and a member of Russia's International Academy of Arts. The Washington Post regards her playing as "brilliant… and dazzlingly virtuosic in the Horowitz manner." This concert will mark her Vancouver Symphony Orchestra debut. -- www.vancouversymphony.ca