Guest artist Soyeon Kate Lee will be featured when the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra closes its 2018-19 season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 17.
Music director finalist Silas Huff will conduct “Fate and Triumph: Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony” at The Capitol Theatre. The concert’s repertoire will include the powerful work of American composer Kenneth Fuchs and Mozart’s exciting Piano Concerto No. 21, performed by Lee, the first-prize winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition. Tchaikovsky’s heroic and vigorous Fourth Symphony brings the program to a rousing conclusion.
Korean-American pianist Lee has been lauded by the New York Times as a pianist with “a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style,” and by the Washington Post for her “stunning command of the keyboard.”
A graduate of the Juilliard School, Lee was awarded every prize given to a pianist at Juilliard. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Music by the Glass, a concert series dedicated to bringing together young professionals in New York City.
A Yamaha Artist, Lee is an assistant professor of music in piano at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband, pianist Ran Dank, and their two children, Noah and Ella.
Huff returns to conduct the WSO after having conducted the “Superheroes!” concert in January.
Maestro Huff has conducted orchestral, band, choral, opera, ballet and new music performances for over 15 years across the U.S. and Europe. He is a conductor, composer and U.S. Army music officer, currently acting as music director of the Astoria Symphony Orchestra, Boulder Concert Band and Colorado Pops Orchestra, director of the University of Colorado Boulder Campus Orchestra, co-director of the International Conducting Institute and staff conductor of the International Concerto Festival.
As a U.S. Army Music Officer, Captain Huff has conducted concerts at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon, and at other important monuments and landmarks in Washington, D.C.
A native Texan, Huff studied classical guitar, music theory and composition at Texas State University before moving to Los Angeles where he earned a master’s degree in music theory and composition from UCLA.
“I am absolutely thrilled to conduct the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra’s season finale on May 17,” Huff said. “I understand the composer Ken Fuchs is something of a Wheeling favorite, and his overture United Artists sparkles and bursts with energy. I also can’t wait for Wheeling to hear Ms. Soyeon Kate Lee play Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21. It will be simply astounding. Finally, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony rounds out the program. It is an epic and joyous way to finish a year of outstanding concerts.”
Patrons can meet Huff at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 15, for Coffee With the Maestro at Sarah’s on Main in Wheeling. It will be an opportunity for people to ask questions about the concert and to get to know him prior to the performance on Friday.
Tickets ($25) are on sale for a pre-show, prix fixe dinner catered by Chef Rocco Basil, starting at 5:30 p.m. on May 17. For reservations, call 304-232-6191 or email boxoffice@wheelingsymphony.com.
Patrons can hear a free Concert Talk at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, when Huff and other guests will offer an informative and intriguing look at the story behind the music to be presented that evening. Immediately following the performance, attendees are invited to stay for a free post-show reception with Huff and other members of the symphony orchestra.
Concert tickets can be purchased online at wheelingsymphony.com, by phone at 304-232-6191, via email at boxoffice@wheelingsymphony.com or in person at 1025 Main St., Suite 811, Wheeling.
More information is available at wheelingsymphony.com.
