Palm Beach Symphony Masterworks Series Concert Featuring Guest Pianist Shelly Berg at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

Shelly Berg, piano, and conducted by Gerard Schwarz. This evening’s Guest Artist is generously sponsored by Patricia Lambrecht.

George Gershwin: An American in Paris 

George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue 

Alan Hovhaness: Prelude and Quadruple Fugue, Op. 128 

Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome, P. 141

In this powerful launch to the season, American innovation meets Italian grandeur. A master of jazz and classical fusion, pianist Shelton “Shelly” Berg will perform two of Gershwin’s most iconic works—An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue. This exhilarating season opener also features the meditative beauty of Hovhaness’ Prelude and Quadruple Fugue and Respighi’s radiant Pines of Rome.

Berg is a Steinway piano artist and five-time Grammy Award-nominated arranger, orchestrator and producer. His newest album Alegría, released in July 2024, was recorded with bassist Carlitos Del Puerto and Dafnis Prieto. Berg’s original song “At Last” was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. Prior critically acclaimed albums include Gershwin Reimagined: An American in London, The Deep, The Nearness of You, Blackbird and The Will. Berg earned three Grammy nominations in the Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) category with jazz singer-lyricist Lorraine Feather and international superstar Gloria Estefan, and a fourth Grammy nomination as co-producer of Gloria Estefan: The Standards. He earned his fifth Grammy nomination as co-arranger of “I Loves You Porgy / There’s a Boat That’s Leavin’ Soon for New York” from the 2018 album Rendezvous featuring jazz singers Clint Holmes and Dee Dee Bridgewater with the Count Basie Orchestra. 

Other recent projects include arranging, orchestrating and co-producing the Estefan Family Christmas album, and recording and/or performing with Tony Bennett, Steve Miller, Seal, Lizz Wright, Andra Day, Monica Mancini, Kari Kirkland, Carmen Bradford, Chris Botti, Renée Fleming and Arturo Sandoval. He is also artistic director of The Jazz Cruise, artistic advisor for the Jazz Roots series at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center in Miami-Dade County, and music director of The Barclay and Beyond Jazz Orchestra at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

An award-winning educator with more than 40 years of leadership in higher education, Berg has served as Dean and Patricia L. Frost Professor of Music at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami since 2007 and announced he’ll be stepping down from that position in Spring 2026. He was previously the McCoy/Sample Professor of Jazz Studies at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and a past president of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). In 2003, he was honored as Educator of the Year by the Los Angeles Jazz Society and in 2002 received the IAJE Lawrence Berk Leadership Award. In 2000, the Los Angeles Times named him one of three “Educators for the Millennium.”

About Palm Beach Symphony

Palm Beach Symphony is South Florida’s premier orchestra known for its diverse repertoire and commitment to community. Founded in 1974, this 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization adheres to a mission of engaging, educating, and entertaining the greater community of the Palm Beaches through live performances of inspiring orchestral music. The orchestra is celebrated for delivering spirited performances by first-rate musicians and distinguished guest artists. Recognized by The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County with a 2020 Muse Award for Outstanding Community Engagement, Palm Beach Symphony continues to expand its education and community outreach programs with children’s concerts, student coaching sessions and master classes, instrument donations and free public concerts that have reached more than 90,000 students in recent years.  For more information, visit www.palmbeachsymphony.org.

Proud sponsors of Palm Beach Symphony include Cindy and Jerome Canty, Mrs. James N. Bay, Carol and Harold Baxter, C. Kenneth and Laura Baxter Foundation, Inc., JoAnne Berkow, Kathy Lee Bickham and John Bickham, Leslie Rogers Blum, Yvonne S. Boice Trust and Alfred Zucaro, Jerey and Tina Bolton, James R. Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui / FINDLAY Galleries, Jerome J. Claeys, Thomas and Carol Bruce, CIBC Private Wealth, Amy and John T. Collins, The Colony Hotel, CORPGOV, Suzanne Mott Dansby, The David Minkin Foundation, Michelle DuBois and James Roiter, Ray K. Farris, Mary and Will Demory, Herbert H. and Barbara C. Dow Foundation,  Willard H. Dow and Kelly Winter, Dr. Richard and Diane Farber, Bill and Kem Frick/The Frick Foundation, Inc., Edith Hall Friedheim/Eric Friedheim Foundation, Gerry Gibian and Marjorie Yashar, Paul* and Sandra Goldner, Douglas and Jo Gressette, Irwin and Janet Gusman, Walter Harper, Thomas E. Harvey & Cathleen P. Black Foundation, Doris Hastings Foundation, Carol S. and Joseph Andrew Hays, John Herrick, Addison Hines Charitable Trust, Lisa and George Hines, HSS Florida, IPO Edge, Charles and Ann Johnson/The C and A Johnson Family Foundation, Elaine Kay, Aban and Percy Kavasmaneck, Leonard and Norma Klorne Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Gary and Linda Lachman/The Lachman Family Foundation, Patricia Lambrecht/The Lambrecht Family Foundation, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, The Honorable Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, The McNulty Charitable Foundation, Tish Messinger, David Moscow, Palm Beach Design Masters, Park Foundation, Patrick and Milly Park, Nancy and Ellis J. Parker, III, PNC Private Bank, Lois Pope, Provident Jewelry, Ari Rifkin/The Len-Ari Foundation, Dr. Martha Rodriguez and Dr. Jesus Perez-Mendez, Annette Urso Rickel Foundation, Karen Hunt Rogers, The Honorable Ronald A. Rosenfeld, David Schafer, Seth Sprague Foundation, Robin B. Smith, Kimberly V. Strauss, Don and Mary Thompson, Jerome and Carol Trautschold, Sieglinde Wikstrom/The Wikstrom Foundation, and The Ann Eden Woodward Foundation/James and Judy Woods.

*Deceased