The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra wraps up its 2023/2024 season with the majesty, beauty and energy that defines so much of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music: the Egmont Overture, his beloved Symphony No. 7, and the iconic Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor), brought to life in the expert hands of Canadian pianist Ian Parker. 

OSO audience favourite Ian Parker is ready to do justice to the Emperor Concerto. Magnetic, easy-going, and delightfully articulate, Ian captivates audiences wherever he goes. He has appeared as piano soloist with virtually every Canadian orchestra, notably the symphonies of Toronto, Quebec, Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, the Calgary Philharmonic and Orchestre Métropolitain. Other highlights include the San Francisco, Cincinnati, National/Washington D.C., Santa Barbara, Richmond, and Honolulu symphonies, the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta, to name a few. 

“The Emperor Concerto is the most virtuosic and celebratory of all of Beethoven’s concerti. It has so much contrast between royalty, stateliness, reflection and triumph,” Ian says.

Beethoven dedicated his fifth and final piano concerto to his patron, close friend and pupil, Archduke Rudolf. The concerto’s public premiere took place on November 28, 1811 in Leipzig, with Friedrich Schneider as the soloist and Johann Philipp Christian Schulz conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra. For the first time, Beethoven was not at the keyboard for the premiere of one of his piano concerti, his advancing hearing loss making it impossible.

Before Ian takes the stage, the OSO performs Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and his Symphony No. 7 under the baton of Maestro Rosemary Thomson. The history of this symphony is interesting. Premiered in late 1813 in Vienna as part of a benefit concert in aid of Austrian and Bavarian troops who had been wounded in skirmishes with the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte, the concert’s worthy cause enticed many of Vienna’s most famous musical figures to participate; it also attracted a glittering audience, dotted with important political figures. Also on hand was the sixteen-year-old Franz Schubert, a great admirer of Beethoven, who had just completed his own first symphony six weeks earlier.

Tickets to the Bring on Beethoven matinee in Vernon on May 12 at available Ticket Seller at 250.549.7469.