LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtyesy Steve Harmon,

Ilya Itin, one of the world’s most acclaimed pianists, joins forces with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra for its upcoming performance Sunday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. at Texas A&M International University’s new Recital Hall in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts.

LPO Maestro Brendan Townsend will lead Sunday’s concert dubbed “Anticipated Return.” Tickets are available at the door and are $25 for Adults and $17 for Seniors. Student admission is free with student ID. Free admission will be provided to anyone making a minimum $5 donation to the Laredo Haitian Relief Effort at the door.

Soloist Itin will perform Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, a unique concerto in the repertoire of the Norwegian composer who never again composed any large-scale works. Its immediate success for the young composer has not diminished in the last 140 years since its composition.

Also on the program will be the performance of Albert Hurwit’s Remembrance Symphony No. 1. The work’s four movements trace the historic journey of the composer’s family: east from Prague to Russia; persecution by the Cossacks and the sadness of the family as it voyages to America. The composer has written that the Symphony offers a universal frame for “the persecution of various ethnic groups that has forced younger generations to separate from their elders and seek safety and freedom in foreign lands.”

Soloist Itin, originally from Russia, has won top honors at the Casadeus Competition, Leeds International Piano Competition and the Russian National Rachmaninoff Competition. He resides in New York City, teaching at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the Golandksy Institute. He is also a frequent guest artist and teacher in the piano department at The Juilliard School.

This is Itin’s second Laredo performance in as many years. While in Laredo, he will also be a featured guest performer in TAMIU’s Steinway Series and offer a Master Class for TAMIU students.

Dr. Albert Hurwit, who will also be present at Sunday’s performance, studied at Harvard University and at Tufts Medical College before establishing a radiology practice in Bloomfield, CT. With the advent of synthesizers and computers, he began experimenting with creating original compositions.

By 1997 his first five-minute Adagio for Orchestra, premiered under the direction of Michael Lankester by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Lankester mentored Hurtwit over the next two years as the original Adagio was expanded outward to a complete symphony which received its premiere on March 5, 2006. Hurwit is the subject of a documentary now underway and a crew will be filming scenes at Sunday’s performance.

For tickets and more information, contact the LPO at 956.326.3042.