On Friday night, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s Masterworks Series continues with a program described as “a night of unabashed Romanticism”.
The featured guest performer will be world-renowned violinist Ray Chen.
Chen is coming to the Michigan State University Wharton Center to perform with the LSO, and WKAR music host Jody Knol is looking forward to it.
“Ray Chen is just a remarkably talented and creative violinist and YouTuber whose star is on a steep upward trajectory,” Knol said.
“We’re lucky to have him here in Lansing, and it’ll be interesting to hear Chen’s take on one of the most popular violin concertos of the Romantic era.”
That’s Max Bruch’s "Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor."
For Chen, this concerto is a favorite. He describes it as “incredibly rewarding to listen to."
"It’s just so honest to its feelings. It’s romantic, it’s alluring," he explained. "It doesn’t give too much until it needs to, and then when it does, it gives a lot.”
Chen says he’s been playing this piece since he was nine years old. He was around 14 the first time he played it with an orchestra. He’s 36 now.
His confidence in playing it is apparent when describing what the LSO audience can look forward to on Friday.
“You’re going to love the Bruch violin concerto!" he promised.
"On top of that, I’m just going to toot my own horn here for a bit, and you’re going to love the way Ray Chen plays the Bruch violin concerto!"
In an unusual quirk of scheduling, Chen will be back at the Wharton Center in January to play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The two performances are a rare opportunity for music lovers. “That means that audiences get a chance to listen to two very different orchestras,” Chen said.
“The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, of course, from London, a completely different continent, playing different repertoire as well. And so, I think this will be a really fun opportunity.”
Chen refers to the Tchaikovsky as “one of the great war horses” for violin.
The LSO Masterworks concert will open with MSU College of Music professor of composition Zhou Tian's "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" and conclude with Béla Bartók’s "Concerto for Orchestra."
That’s Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of MSU’s Wharton Center.
WKAR’s Jody Knol will lead a preview conversation with Zhou Tian in the Jackson National Lounge, starting at 6:45 p.m.
The Lansing Symphony Orchestra and the Wharton Center are financial supporters of WKAR.
UPCOMING ARTS EVENTS
Riverwalk Theatre opens a run of eight performances of a stage adaptation of "Little Women" Thursday.
Peppermint Creek Theatre Company opens an eight-performance run of the play "The Best We Could (A Family Tragedy)" at the Stage One Performing Arts Center on Friday.
The MSU Department of Theatre is staging a production of Shakespeare’s "Othello," set in modern-day America. There will be seven performances, starting Friday, in the Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.
Starting Friday, you have five chances to see "Island Song" at Lansing Community College’s Dart Auditorium.
The 28th East Lansing Film Festival starts Thursday and runs through November 13 at Studio C in Okemos.
