Tucson Symphony Orchestra is bringing back a beloved guest pianist this weekend to perform the Tucson premiere of a concerto co-commissioned by the orchestra.
In two performances this weekend under the baton of British conductor Jessica Cottis, making her second appearance with the TSO, Joyce Yang will perform Grammy nominated composer Jonathan Leshnoff’s Piano Concerto, which he wrote for Yang. The TSO co-commissioned the work, which Yang world-premiered with the Kansas City Symphony in November 2019.
This marks Joyce Yang‘s fourth TSO appearance since she played with the orchestra in 2005 after she won the silver medal in the prestigious Van Cliburn Competition. The 35-year-old South Korea-born pianist also played a recital for the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music weeks after joining the TSO for Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in early 2010.
The Leshnoff Concerto was on the TSO’s 2020-21 season, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TSO Music Director José Luis Gomez, in a note on the orchestra’s website, said he was “proud that TSO had a part in creating the Leshnoff Concerto, which was written especially for one of Tucson’s favorite pianists.”
Fun fact about Cottis: Her 2017 TSO debut was her American debut.
In addition to the concerto, the orchestra will perform Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Andean Elegy” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” in two concerts this weekend: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, at Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $17 to $83 through tucsonsymphony.org and audience members are required to either show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken no more than 72 hours before the performance.
