Tchaikovsky Rocks

FEATURING MAXIM LANDO, PIANO, 2020 GILMORE YOUNG ARTIST AWARD

Our finale program features Maxim Lando, winner of the 2020 Young Gilmore Artist Award. This award is presented every two years to single-out the most promising of the new generation of US-based pianists. Maxim is a stunning 18-year old virtuoso who’s performed with the likes of Lang Lang in the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue. His mother grew up in Madison, and Maxim was raised in New York. 

Maxim opens the evening with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. It’s a war horse with the most recognizable opening of beautiful grand chords, while accompanying a soulful D flat major melody in the strings and orchestra. 

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s overture, Danse Negre, opens the second half, with great energy and flair. Tchaikovsky captures the Mardi Gras festival of Italy in this musical postcard - Capriccio Italien - with its swirling melodies and intoxicating rhythms.