Artistic Advisor and Conductor Jung-Ho Pak welcomes Charlie Albright to the Fremont Symphony stage in the only California appearance of the internationally renowned pianist's 2019/2020 concert season. Titled "Beethoven's Fifth EXPLODED!" the all-Beethoven program celebrates the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth.
Albright will play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. Pak will then take the audience on a multimedia journey into the mind and ideas of the composer and lead the symphony in a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
Pak says of Albright, "I can't wait to work with him. He's one of the most exciting, vibrant, energetic young pianists I've ever met."
Hailed as “among the most gifted musicians of his generation” with a “dazzling natural keyboard affinity” who “made quite an impression” by The Washington Post, Half-Korean American pianist/composer/improviser Charlie Albright has been praised for his “jaw-dropping technique and virtuosity meshed with a distinctive musicality” by The New York Times, and his “extravagance that had showmanship but never felt cheap” with his “ease and smoothness that refuses to airbrush the music, but animates it from within” by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Charlie Albright breaks the "classical" rules of music by connecting with audiences like no other. Through his music, speaking, and unique improvisations that bring music to life, he crosses all genres...and makes it fun.
About Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, Albright says, "One thing I enjoy doing (especially in this piece) is to completely improvise a large cadenza, which was actually pretty commonplace long ago. The neat thing is that I never know how it'll come out until the concert!"
Pak adds that after Albright plays, "We're going to take a look at Beethoven's masterpiece, Symphony No. 5, in a way that most people never get a chance to experience. We're going to see how it's one of the most miraculously composed, miraculously conceived pieces of music from the early 19th Century."
"I'm going to show his scores on the screen so people can see what he wrote and how it's so unusual." Pak says he is inspired by the great conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, who brought classical works to television audiences in the 1950s through his groundbreaking "Omnibus" programs, one of which focused on the Beethoven's Fifth symphony.
Described by one reviewer as "a charming and informative spokesman" (J. Gold, Piedmont Post), Pak will talk about how the symphony "is much, much more revolutionary and daring than its instantly recognizable first four notes."
Jung-Ho will then lead the Fremont Symphony in performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, a work that still holds the power to excite audiences. "Beethoven's Fifth EXPLODED!" will take place at the fully accessible James Logan Center for the Performing Arts, Union City, an architecturally striking building with excellent acoustics and sightlines.