YOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY Van Cliburn competition winner to perform with orchestra

The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra kicks off the Masterworks Series on Oct. 22 and the Pops Series on Nov. 5. Both concerts will be conducted by Isaiah Jackson and begin at 8 p.m. at Edward W. Powers Auditorium.
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition winner Olga Kern performs Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto -- the selection she performed when winning the Van Cliburn gold medal in 2001. Since winning the award -- the first woman to do so in 30 years -- Kern has captivated audiences with her electric style and unmistakable magnetism.
Born in Russia, Kern comes from a musical family. Her mother teaches piano, her father is a pianist with the Bolshoi, and there are performers and singers studding the family tree.
The "Rach 3" as many call Rachmaninoff's biggest and splashiest concerto, was described at its premiere in 1909 as "Russian throughout, Russian in its melodic conception, in its rhythms and in the robust virile qualities heard in the gentler passages."
The orchestra concludes the evening concert, which is underwritten in part by the Youngstown Symphony Guild, with Brahms' Symphony No. 2.
Reception planned
The Youngstown Symphony Guild will host a pre-concert champagne reception and dinner to celebrate the opening of the orchestra's 80th season beginning at 5:30 p.m. Reservations for dinner seating can be made by calling the Symphony box office at (330) 744-0264.
The orchestra begins its yearlong salute to Broadway on Nov. 5 tracing the roots of musical theater from the European opera houses to the bright lights of Broadway. Featuring Puccini arias from "La Boheme," "Madama Butterfly" and "Turando" selections from George Gershwin's folk opera "Porgy and Bess," Lehar's operetta "The Merry Widow," plus Broadway classics from "Kismet," "My Fair Lady" and "Phantom of the Opera."
Vocalists for opener
Vocalists for the opening Pops concert, titled "From the Met to Broadway" are Kishna Davis, Teri Hansen, Sal Viviano and Kip Wilborn. Davis' appearances recently included performances with the Phoenix, Baltimore and Annapolis symphonies. She sang Nedda in "I Pagliacci" with Opera Memphis and Bess in "Porgy and Bess" with the San Francisco Symphony and sang Tosca with Metro Lyric Opera.
Teri Hansen debuted this spring with the Boston Pops, singing Lerner and Loewe with Marvin Hamlisch conducting and appeared with the Pittsburgh Symphony in a special tribute to Fred Rogers ("Mister Rogers' Neighborhood") with John Lithgow, Renee Fleming and Thomas Hampton. Last season she made her Broadway debut in "The Boys From Syracuse."
Sal Viviano made his Broadway debut in the revival of "The Three Musketeers" and has since starred in the Broadway hits "Romance/Romance," "City of Angels," "Falsettos," "The Life" and "The Full Monty." Viviano's appearances on television include "Law and Order," "The Cosby Mysteries" and daytime shows "Search For Tomorrow," "Ryan's Hope," "One Life To Live" and "All My Children."
Kip Wilborn's credits as a leading operatic tenor include engagements with San Francisco Opera, Opera National de Paris, New York City Opera and the opera houses of Seattle, Houston, Cleveland, Cincinnati and San Diego. On the musical stage, he has performed Ravenal in "Showboat" and Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera." The opening Pops concert Nov. 5 is underwritten in part by GM Lordstown Complex.
Tickets for Youngstown Symphony Orchestra concerts and ticket packages for Masterworks and Pops Series are available by calling the box office at (330) 744-0264.