Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Jacek Kaspszyk, music and artistic director
Seong-Jin Cho, pianist

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, which last performed at Penn State in 2008, returns for its fourth United States tour—this time under the baton of Music and Artistic Director Jacek Kaspszyk. The orchestra, “a highlight of the year. … one of the best-kept secrets in the business” (Los Angeles Times), gave its first concert in 1901 and has performed on five continents.

Kaspszyk, a graduate of Warsaw Academy of Music, has been at the helm of the orchestra since 2013. In addition to his leadership of the Warsaw Philharmonic, Kaspszyk has guest conducted the Berlin, New York, London, Royal, and Prague philharmonics plus other prestigious orchestras throughout the world.

Seong-Jin Cho, who won the seventeenth Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2015, makes his U.S. touring debut in autumn 2016. The Seoul, South Korea, native, still in his early 20s, has also earned major prizes in Russia and Japan. The pianist, who has lived in Paris since 2012, recently signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. “Cho has an enviable ability to make every note sound distinct and clear, shaping and balancing each phrase perfectly,” writes a reviewer for the classical music website Bachtrack.

Cho joins the orchestra to perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37. The orchestra program also includes Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Polish Melodies Op. 47, No. 2, and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68.