‘Global greats’

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 27

‘Global greats’

Four of the world’s most popular and best-loved works are to be performed at a concert called “Global Greats” by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at the Town Hall on Saturday, September 9. They are Rimsky Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol ; Sibelius’ “Finlandia”; Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1”; and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5.” The conductor, Theodore Kuchar, was born in New York City in 1960, and made his solo debut in Cleveland at the age of 12. He is a graduate, with distinction, from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and was violist, with the Odyssey String Quartet. Kuchar was music director and conductor of the Cleveland Sinfonia from 1978 to 1982, working under the guidance of Lorin Maazel. In 1980 he was awarded the Paul Fromm Fellowship from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to undertake advanced study and performance at Tanglewood, studying under Leonard Bernstein, Sir Colin Davis, Seiji Ozawa and Andre Previn. He is currently music director of the Queensland Philharmonic, a post he took up in June, 1988 The Bulgarian pianist Nikolai Evrov is well-known to concertgoers in Auckland and Dunedin, through his appearances with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Dunedin Sinfonia. His career as a concert artist began as a very young man and he quickly won fame and international recognition as prize winner at a number of influential piano competitions. He first toured Australia in 1983 and since 1986 has been artist-in-residence at the New South Wales Conservatonum of Music. „ . , The guest leader for “Global Greats is Paulene Smith a former leader of the Christhcurch Symphony Orchestra. She left for Australia in 1987, and is currently with the Queensland Philharmonic.