The Salina Symphony is preparing for its final show of the season, and final show conducted by one of the finalists to be the new symphony director.
According to the symphony, the season will close Sunday, May 1st at 4 p.m. at the Stiefel Theatre with a celebration of movement, melding the driving rhythms of techno with balletic impulse and symphonic grandeur. The Symphony will perform Rachmaninoff’s dynamic Symphonic Dances, a contemporary piece titled Mothership by Mason Bates, and Tchaikovsky’s passionate and exhilarating Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring guest artist Lorraine Min. The concert will be conducted by Vlad Vizireanu, the fifth and final candidate vying for the title of Music Director and Conductor.
Music Director Finalist
Described as a conductor with “ample gestures, clarity, precision, and genuine passion,” Vizireanu made his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall as the Second Prize Winner in the 2016 Donatella Flick Competition. He was invited to the 2018 Malko Competition with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen.
He was also invited among 14 conductors (out of 400 applicants worldwide) to participate in the renowned Mahler Conducting Competition with the Bamberg Symphony. He won Second Prize in the 11th International Cadaqués Conducting Competition where he conducted the Cadaqués Symphony in an internationally televised concert in L’Auditori Hall, Barcelona.
In 2013, Vizireanu was invited to debut at the renowned Enescu Festival in Bucharest where he conducted a side-by-side concert with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Royal Camerata. He conducted the Royal Camerata again in the 2015 edition of the Enescu Festival with soloist Rebekka Hartmann. He has since been reinvited to the 2019 and 2021 editions with the Orchestre National de Lille and Wiener Kammerorchester. He is a regular guest conductor in Europe and the United States.
Vizireanu was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Ploiești Philharmonic in Romania. He served as Music Director of the Knox Galesburg Symphony in Illinois and the North Shore Symphony in New York.
An ardent advocate of new music, Vizireanu is the Founder & Executive Director of Impulse New Music Festival (INMF), which brings together young composers and instrumentalists to study and perform new compositions. In addition to INMF’s numerous world premieres, he has showcased new compositions with the Castleton Festival Orchestra, Cadaqués Symphony, and Hebrides New Music Ensemble.
Guest Artist
Steinway Artist and critically acclaimed pianist, Lorraine Min has dazzled audiences internationally with her poetic artistry and brilliant virtuosity.
Cited by the New York Times for her “impeccable phrase-shaping (and) crystalline sound,” and by the Washington Post for her “admirable playing,” Min has performed extensively throughout Canada and USA, in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, India and South America. She has performed solo recitals and has made concerto appearances in some of the world’s most important concert halls, including New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre and the Chan Centre.
A dynamic chamber musician, Min has performed in prestigious North American venues, including at the Ravinia and Tanglewood Festivals, in Europe, Asia and Australia, notably in Perth’s Western Australia Symphony Orchestra’s Amberley Mozart Day concerts, where she was a featured guest artist. She can regularly be heard on CBC and ABC (Australian) radio.
Min’s success in prestigious international competitions include top prizes and special awards of distinction in the Washington International, D’Angelo, Frina Awerbuch, and the William Kapell Competitions. She was the top-ranking Canadian pianist at 19 years old in the Harveys Leeds and Busoni International Competitions, and laureate in the Van Cliburn Competition.
Born in Victoria and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Min studied on full scholarship at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. On generous scholarships and numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Min received her master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School.
A pre-concert talk with Vizireanu and Min will be held at 3:00 p.m. in the Stiefel Theatre Watson Room. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m.
Concert tickets may be purchased at the Stiefel Theatre Box Office, by calling 785-827-1998 or online at www.salinasymphony.org. Single admission is $29 or $39 and $19 for students.
