The Orchestra at Temple Square Presents Its Annual Spring Concert With Internationally Renowned Pianist

Salt Lake City — Internationally renowned pianist Mykola Suk will be the featured soloist during the Orchestra at Temple Square’s annual spring concert on Friday, 22 March, and Saturday, 23 March 2013, at 7:30 p.m. in the Tabernacle. Suk’s talents will be showcased in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5, subtitled “Emperor,” where the piano plays a primary role.

Mr. Suk previously appeared with the Orchestra at Temple Square in August 2005. Ever since winning the first prize and gold medal at the 1971 International Liszt-Bartok Competition in Budapest, Suk has enchanted and captivated audiences all across the world. Born and schooled in Kyiv, Ukraine, Suk went on to study at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory with Lev Vlasenko. He now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, taking responsibility for keyboard studies at the Music Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The evening’s concert will be led by Igor Gruppman, conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square, and highlight the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig von Beethoven, and Antonin Dvorák.

The concert will open with Mozart’s overture to his opera The Magic Flute. Composed in 1791, the last year of Mozart’s life, the opera is one of the composer’s more curious works. Written in German, the music is simultaneously symbolic and whimsical, with religious symbols familiar to Mozart. Much of the music in the overture falls into the traditional contrasting elements of slow dotted rhythms and sprightly, energized melodies.

The second half of the concert will feature Dvorák’s Symphony no. 8. This symphony is relatively brief, upbeat, and playful and exemplifies the folk cheeriness of Antonín Dvorák’s native Bohemia.

Igor Gruppman was named conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square in 2003. He enjoys a career as a violin soloist, conductor, concertmaster, and chamber musician and has appeared in the great European capitals and in the major cities of North America, Israel, and New Zealand. He has been a frequent guest with such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic and has worked with conductors Sir Georg Solti, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, and Bernard Haitink. In addition to his duties with the Orchestra at Temple Square, he is currently concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Orchestra at Temple Square was formed in 1999, under the direction of Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its charter as an all-volunteer musical organization is to accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and to perform in two concerts of its own each year.

The event requires tickets, which are available free of charge beginning 19 February at lds.org/events, by calling 801-570-0080, or at the Conference Center ticket office. Admission to this event is limited to those ages eight and older.