Oopole, Philharmonic of Poland Comes To The Van Wezel 1/24

OPOLE, PHILHARMONIC OF POLAND featuring EVGENI MIKHAILOV on piano will appear at the VAN WEZEL PERFORMING ARTS HALL on Monday, January 24 at 8 p.m.

One of Poland's leading orchestras, OPOLE, PHILHARMONIC OF POLAND was founded in 1947 and became the resident Orchestra of Opole. In September of 1999 Boguslaw Dawidow was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor. Under Maestro Dawidow's leadership, the OPOLE, PHILHARMONIC OF POLAND has hosted a continually growing number of world-famous musicians, becoming the only Polish Orchestra invited to participate in the Gala Concert in Rome to mark the 80th birthday of Pope John Paul II, in May 2000. Now, the OPOLE, PHILHARMONIC OF POLAND has undertaken its first transcontinental tour of the United States, with a stop at the Van Wezel.

The performance will feature EVGENI MIKHAILOV on piano. Hailed by critics for his "incontestable musical talent and musicality" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany), "refinement of his sound" (Piano, Great Britain) as well as "passion, sincerity and lyricism" (Culture, Russia), MR. MIKHAILOV is the Prizewinner of such venerable events as the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, Scriabin International Piano Competition, and Pozzoli International Piano Competition, among others. He is an acknowledged master of so called "Silver Age" of Russian music - the works of Medtner, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin. In 2006 he was invited to give a master class and lecture at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference. MR. MIKHAILOV has performed as a soloist with world renowned orchestras in such prestigious venues as the Steinway Hall in New York, St. Martin in the Fields in London, and "G. Verdi" in Milan.

Program includes: Mozart's Overture to "Die Zauberflote," Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1, Op.11, and Beethoven's Symphony No.3 in E-flat major, Op.55.

Ticket prices range from $30 to $75. For more information and to buy tickets, contact the Van Wezel Box office at (941) 953-3368 or log onto www.vanwezel.org. This show is sponsored by Classical WSMR 89.1.