Program also features Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Saint-Saëns’s “Organ” Symphony
DSO musicians also perform March 20 Chamber Recital—Flute and Strings Around the World—at Southfield Parks & Recreation
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (March 4, 2024) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will welcome acclaimed pianist Yuja Wang to Orchestra Hall March 21–23 for three concerts on the PVS Classical Series conducted by Music Director Jader Bignamini.
The program opens with Paul Dukas’s thrilling The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Yuja Wang is the featured soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, and the program closes with Saint-Saëns's Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”) featuring organist Michael Unger. Please note: the DSO originally announced that Yuja Wang would perform Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on this program; she will now perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.
Yuja Wang Plays Beethoven will take place Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 22 at 8 p.m., and Saturday, March 23 at 8 p.m. in Orchestra Hall. Tickets for these performances start at $19 and can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The same week, on Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m., DSO musicians Hannah Hammel Maser (flute), Hai-Xin Wu (violin), Elizabeth Furuta (violin), Mike Chen (viola), and David LeDoux (cello) will perform a chamber recital at Southfield Parks & Recreation in Southfield, Michigan. The program will feature string quartet repertoire by Arthur Foote, Alberto Ginastera, and Hugo Wolf, and Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285. This performance is free to all William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series subscribers. Single tickets are also available and cost $15.
The title sponsor of the DSO’s Classical Series is PVS Chemicals, Inc. The William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series is made possible by a generous grant from the William Davidson Foundation; WRCJ 90.9 FM also supports the series.
YUJA WANG PLAYS BEETHOVEN
PVS Classical Series
Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 22 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 23 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Jader Bignamini, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
Michael Unger, organ
"There is an ever-greater depth to [Yuja's] musicianship, drawing you into the world of each composer with compelling immediacy" (Financial Times, London). The superstar pianist returns for Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. The organ in Saint-Saëns's Third Symphony adds a thrilling dimension of sound, and the magic of Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice spins out of control, leaving you on the edge of your seat.
PAUL DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, (“Organ”)
FLUTE AND STRINGS AROUND THE WORLD
Chamber Recital
Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m.
Southfield Parks & Recreation (26000 Evergreen Rd, Southfield, MI 48076)
Hannah Hammel Maser, flute
Hai-Xin Wu, violin
Elizabeth Furuta, violin
Mike Chen, viola
David LeDoux, cello
Take a word tour with a program DSO Principal Flute Hannah Hammel Maser describes as featuring “vibrant and lush chamber pieces for flute and strings.” Enjoy musical styles from Germany and Argentina plus a short Italian stay with a string quartet by Hugo Wolf. When you reach the timeless genius of Mozart, you’ll know you’ve arrived.
ARTHUR FOOTE A Night Piece
ALBERTO GINASTERA “Impresiones de la Puna”
HUGO WOLF Italian Serenade for String Quartet
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Flute Quartet in D major, K.285
About Jader Bignamini
Jader Bignamini was introduced as the 18th music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in January 2020, commencing with the 2020–2021 season. His infectious passion and artistic excellence set the tone for the seasons ahead, creating extraordinary music and establishing a close relationship with the orchestra. A jazz aficionado, he has immersed himself in Detroit’s rich jazz culture and the influences of American music.
A native of Crema, Italy, Bignamini studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory and began his career as a musician (clarinet) with Orchestra Sinfonica La Verdi in Milan, later serving as the group’s resident conductor. Captivated by the works of legends like Mahler and Tchaikovsky, Bignamini explored their complexity and power, puzzling out the role that each instrument played in creating a larger-than-life sound. When he conducted his first professional concert at the age of 28, it didn’t feel like a departure, but an arrival.
In the years since, Bignamini has conducted some of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras and opera companies in venues across the globe including working with Riccardo Chailly on concerts of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in 2013 and his concert debut at La Scala in 2015 for the opening season of La Verdi Orchestra. Recent highlights include debuts with Opera de Paris conducting La Forza del Destino and with Deutsche Opera Berlin conducting Simon Boccanegra; appearances with the Pittsburgh and Toronto symphonies; debuts with the Houston, Dallas, and Minnesota symphonies; Osaka Philharmonic and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo; with the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Dutch National Opera (Madama Butterfly); Bayerische Staatsoper (La Traviata); I Puritani in Montpellier for the Festival of Radio France; Traviata in Tokyo directed by Sofia Coppola; return engagements with Oper Frankfurt (La forza del destino) and Santa Fe Opera (La bohème); Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi; Traviata, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot at Arena of Verona; Il Trovatore and Aida at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera; Madama Butterfly, I Puritani, and Manon Lescaut at Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Simon Boccanegra and La Forza del Destino at the Verdi Festival in Parma; Ciro in Babilonia at Rossini Opera Festival and La bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Elisir d’amore at La Fenice in Venice.
When Bignamini leads an orchestra in symphonic repertoire, he conducts without a score, preferring to make direct eye contact with the musicians. He conducts from the heart, forging a profound connection with his musicians that shines through both onstage and off. He both embodies and exudes the excellence and enthusiasm that has long distinguished the DSO’s artistry.
About Yuja Wang
Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians, and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances, famously telling the New York Times 'I firmly believe every program should have its own life, and be a representation of how I feel at the moment.' Her skill and charisma were recently demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall alongside conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Philadelphia Orchestra. This historic event celebrating 150 years since the birth of Rachmnainoff, included performances of all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in one afternoon and saw queues around the block for tickets on the day. The 2022/23 season also saw Yuja perform the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and further performances of the work throughout North America and Europe across the season. Yuja was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. This season, Yuja embarks on a highly-anticipated international recital tour, performing in world-class venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, astounding audiences once more with her flair, technical ability and exceptional artistry in a wideranging program to include works by Beethoven and Scriabin.
About Michael Unger
Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Michael Unger is a multiple award-winning performer who appears as a soloist and chamber musician in North America, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. He is a First Prize and Audience Prize winner of the National Young Artists’ Competition of the American Guild of Organists (NYACOP), a First Prize winner of the International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo, and a Second Prize and Audience Award winner of the International Schnitger Organ Competition on the historic organs of Alkmaar, the Netherlands. Since 2013, he has been the Associate Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Recent solo recitals include performances for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, and the Historical Keyboard Society of North America; the “Five Continents – Five Organists” Festival at Seoul’s Sejong Center; the International Festival of Organ, Choral and Chamber Music Gdańsk, Poland; Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg – Musica Sacra; and numerous international and regional recital series. In 2018, he premiered two preludes and fugues by American composer Henry Martin for the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Kansas City, Missouri, and in 2023, he premiered the organ version of Crown of Hummingbirds by American composer Julia Adolphe with the Cincinnati May Festival. Other recent organ and harpsichord appearances include Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Collegium Cincinnati, Catacoustic Consort, and Publick Musick. He received favorable international reviews for his debut solo recordings under the Naxos and Pro Organo labels, and his performances have been broadcast on North American and European radio, including syndicated programs Pipedreams and With Heart and Voice.
Michael Unger holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts with a Performers’ Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of David Higgs and William Porter. He is also a Gold Medal graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where he studied with Larry Cortner and Sandra Mangsen, and post-graduate teachers include Roberta Gary in Cincinnati and Jean-Baptiste Robin in Versailles, France. He currently serves as organist of Cincinnati’s historic Isaac M. Wise – Plum Street Temple.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a performance schedule that features the PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in metro area venues, as well as eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.