Punta Gorda Symphony presents guest artist and award-winning pianist Roman Rabinovich performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Sunday, March 5 at the Charlotte Performing Arts Center in Punta Gorda. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., with a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. with Maestro Raffaele Livio Ponti included with ticket purchase.
Roman Rabinovich
Roman Rabinovich was born in Uzbekistan in 1985, and emigrated with his family to Israel in 1994. Rabinovich, “whose mature, self-assured playing belies his chronological age” (San Francisco Classical Voice), made his Israel Philharmonic debut under Zubin Mehta at the age of 10. Praised by The New York Times for his “uncommon sensitivity and feeling,” the eloquent young pianist was the winner of the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 2008.
At the opening of the 2022-23 season, Rabinovich made his Carnegie Hall Concerto Debut, stepping in at 24-hours’ notice. He has performed as a soloist in the United States, Europe, and Israel at venues such as Gewandhaus, Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This highly anticipated performance will be a rare opportunity to hear the acclaimed soloist play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
The March 5 program features an exciting variety of music beyond the piano concerto, including Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos (Three-Cornered Hat) and Alexander Borodin’s Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances. Another highlight of the program is Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, composed by Florence Beatrice Price, the first African-American female composer to gain national status, and the first to have a symphonic work performed by a major national symphony orchestra.
Randy Sandke
On March 18, the Punta Gorda Symphony closes out its Jazz on the Lawn series with Randy Sandke & Friends at 4 p.m. at the Florida SouthWestern State College, Charlotte Campus. The group features jazz trumpeter Randy Sandke, along with some of Southwest Florida’s most accomplished musicians: Pete BarenBregge on saxophone, trombonist Greg Neilsen, Dick Hamilton on piano, bassist Don Mopsick, and vocalist and drummer David Pruyn. The program will include familiar jazz standards and selections from the Great American Songbook. Bring a picnic and join more than 200 jazz lovers to enjoy an afternoon of great jazz in the Florida sunshine.
Finally, on April 2, the symphony presents its 2022-23 season finale with “Cinematic Sounds” at 7:30 p.m. at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, with a festive after-party.
The concert will feature some of the most recognizable and beloved music from great movies, to the delight of both classical music lovers and film buffs.
For more information and ticketing, visit online at www.PGSymphony.org, or call 941-205-5996
