Saturday, February 22, 2025
7:30 PM
Garde Arts Center, New London

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This concert is generously sponsored by Upton Bass String Instrument Co.

The ECSO’s February concert, a call for peace in Eastern Europe, will begin with a world premiere of Elegy XXII by Polina Nazaykinskaya, a graduate of Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory College and the Yale School of Music. Next, Polish violinist Kinga Augustyn, who made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2008, will be the soloist for her compatriot Henryk Wieniawski’s virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, which premiered in St. Petersburg in 1862 with Wieniawski as soloist. After intermission, Music Director & Conductor Toshiyuki Shimada will conduct Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s powerful Symphony No. 4 in F Minor. In composing his “Fate Symphony,” Tchaikovsky had Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Fate Symphony” in mind (its first-movement fanfare recalls the famous “duh-duh-duh-DUM” from Beethoven’s Fifth). The Tchaikovsky piece was premiered in the U.S. in 1890. A New York Post reviewer wrote: “If Tchaikovsky had called his symphony ‘A Sleigh Ride Through Siberia’ no one would have found this title inappropriate.”

There will be a pre-concert chat at 6:30pm prior to the concert on February 22. This event is free and open to the public. It will be in the Oasis room located in the Garde Arts Center through the side “G” door entrance. No need to RSVP, just arrive and enjoy. There will be limited seating on a first-come, first-served basis. While you don’t need a ticket to enjoy the lecture, you will need a ticket to get into the concert hall afterwards and ticket scanners will be standing by. These chats are generously sponsored through a Connecticut Humanities Quick Grant and through partnership with the Garde Arts Center’s P:ACE initiative.

You can subscribe today to lock in discounts, complimentary vouchers, and the same seats for each concert. The order form is available here, or you can call the ECSO office at 860-443-2876 to discuss seating options.

There will be a pre-concert chat at 6:30pm prior to the concert on February 22. This event is free and open to the public. It will be in the Oasis room located in the Garde Arts Center through the side “G” door entrance. No need to RSVP, just arrive and enjoy. There will be limited seating on a first-come, first-served basis. While you don’t need a ticket to enjoy the lecture, you will need a ticket to get into the concert hall afterwards and ticket scanners will be standing by.

These chats are generously sponsored through a Connecticut Humanities Quick Grant and through partnership with the Garde Arts Center’s P:ACE initiative.

Enjoy this chat, where Toshi informally interviews upcoming violin soloist Kinga Augustyn, who will perform Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2. They delve into Kinga’s background, the singing nature of the violin in this piece, and how excited she is to perform with the ECSO for the very first time!