Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova had to pull out of her debut with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra this weekend due to illness, TSO officials said.
Enter South Korean-born American violinist Siwoo Kim, who the TSO tapped as a last-minute replacement to perform Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
The concerto, which is making its Tucson premiere, is on a program that includes Rachmaninoff’s behemoth Symphony No. 2, with guest conductor Aram Demirjian at the podium.
Kim is making his Tucson debut with the concert, which will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.
Kim, who performs as a soloist and chamber artist, received the 2012 King Award for Young Artists and took second place in the Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings in 2010. He’s also landed top prizes in a number of regional and national competitions including at Juilliard.
The New York Times critic Zachary Woolfe called Kim’s playing “incisive” and “compelling” while Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein said Kim plays with “stylistic sensitivity and generous tonal nuance.”
Although he’s now based in New York City, Kim has remained connected to his childhood home of Columbus, Ohio, where he is co-founding artistic director of VIVO Music Festival, a summertime chamber music festival that features musicians from around the country.
Tickets for this weekend’s TSO concert is $14-$90 through tucsonsymphony.org. The concert runs about two hours with one intermission.
