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Joey Burdette
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The Winston-Salem Symphony Presents Classics Series Concert Innovators & Legends
Music Director Candidate Stilian Kirov to Conduct with Guest Pianist Terrence Wilson
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (December 12, 2022) – The Winston-Salem Symphony presents its next Classics Series concert cycle for the 2022–23 season entitled Innovators & Legends on January 7 and 8, 2023. The concerts feature guest conductor Stilian Kirov, one of six candidates for the Symphony’s Music Director position. Innovators & Legends highlights the music of Ludwig van Beethoven (Concerto No. 1 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra), Sergei Rachmaninoff (Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, op. 27), Ruth Crawford Seeger (Andante for Strings).
Music Director candidate Stilian Kirov will lead the Winston-Salem Symphony in concerts that focuses on works by three outstanding pianists, composers, and innovators. The program opens with 20th-century American composer Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Andante for Strings, which pulses with expressive energy. Terrence Wilson interprets Beethoven’s groundbreaking First Piano Concerto. This piece shows Beethoven as the youthful innovator, written as a virtuosic showpiece as he was making a name for himself in Vienna. The concert ends with Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, a piece guaranteed to move concert goers just as it moved audiences 115 years ago.
“Every masterwork on this program is extremely special, unique, exciting, and compelling. I cannot wait to embark on this beautiful musical journey and meet Winston-Salem’s fabulous orchestra and community,” said Kirov. He went on to express his excitement about “performing this program with the Winston-Salem Symphony because every concert in a new place is an opportunity to meet new friends, share the joy of music, and create a meaningful artistic experience together.”
The Innovators & Legends concerts take place on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 8, 2023 at 3 p.m. at the Stevens Center of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, 405 West Fourth Street, in downtown Winston-Salem. Tickets begin at $25 and are available by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145 or online at wssymphony.org.
“We hope you’ll join us in early 2023 as we welcome our fourth Music Director candidate to the concert hall for an inspiring and dynamic set of concerts. We would also love for you to join us at the various events throughout the week that offer a chance to meet Stilian Kirov, who is a highly acclaimed and enthusiastic conductor. We are counting on audience input as we choose our next Music Director and would love to know what you think of his presence both on and off the stage,” said E. Merritt Vale, Winston-Salem Symphony President & CEO.
The public is invited to several opportunities to interact with Kirov throughout the week leading up to the concert. There will be an open coffee and meet and greet on Thursday, January 5, from 10:30–11:30 a.m. at the Forsyth County Central Library, 660 West Fifth Street, Downtown. Symphony by the Glass returns to The Caviste, 1100 Reynolda Road, on Thursday, January 5, from 5:30–6:30 p.m. and provides an opportunity to hear from Kirov while listening to Symphony musicians and enjoying wines paired with the music of Seeger, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff.
Another chance to meet the Music Director candidate is at the Symphony’s Music Lovers’ Luncheon. This fun and informative pre-concert event will feature a discussion between Music Director Candidate Stilian Kirov and guest artist Terrence Wilson on Friday, January 6, from 12–1:30 p.m. Attendees have a chance to learn about the weekend’s programming while enjoying a gourmet lunch. Attendees will gain insights into the music presented and learn more about the performers’ careers and backgrounds. The lunch is $35 per person, and advanced registration is required. Visit wssymphony.org/luncheon for more information and to make a reservation. The January Music Lovers’ Luncheon will take place at The Historic Brookstown Inn, located at 200 Brookstown Avenue, in Winston-Salem. Parking is available in the lot directly behind the hotel.
After the Saturday concert, patrons can walk across the street from the Stevens Center for a drink at The Ginger Fox. Kirov and other orchestra musicians will be on hand to mix and mingle.
First Prize Winner of the “Debut Berlin” Concert Competition, Stilian Kirov made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonic in 2017. The same year, he began his tenure as Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic in Chicago’s Southland and continued his music directorship with the Bakersfield Symphony in California. A 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Kirov has proven to be not only a dynamic artistic director but also an enthusiastic educator and community leader, continuing to build upon his previous successes as Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony and Associate Conductor of the Memphis Symphony. Also a gifted pianist, he was Gold Medalist of the 2001 Claude Kahn International Piano Competition in Paris. For a full biography, visit stiliankirov.com.
Acclaimed by the Baltimore Sun as “one of the biggest pianistic talents to have emerged in this country in the last 25 years,” pianist Terrence Wilson has appeared as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. Wilson has received numerous awards and prizes, including the SONY ES Award for Musical Excellence, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Juilliard Petschek Award. He has also been featured on several radio and television broadcasts, including NPR’s “Performance Today,” WQXR radio in New York, and programs on the BRAVO Network, the Arts & Entertainment Network, public television, and as a guest on late-night network television. In 2011, Wilson was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Instrumental Soloist With an Orchestra” for his (world premiere) recording with the Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero of Michael Daugherty’s Deus ex Machina for piano and orchestra—written for Wilson in 2007. Wilson graduated from The Juilliard School. In March 2021, Wilson was appointed to the piano faculty at Bard College Conservatory of Music. For more information, please visit terrencewilsonpiano.com
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
Proud to be one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, the Winston-Salem Symphony will celebrate its 75th Anniversary across 2022. The Symphony inspires listeners of all ages throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad with various concerts, education programs, and community engagement initiatives each year.
This concert and the Winston-Salem Symphony are supported by Season Presenting Sponsors Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A.; 2022 Classics Series Guest Artist Sponsors River Landing; Symphony Unbound/Etherbound Presenting Sponsors Chris and Mike Morykwas; 75th Anniversary Season Sponsor Betty Myers Howell; as well as the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council.
Subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased online at wssymphony.org or by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145.
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