Monday, October 09, 2023

Cellist Wen-Sinn Yang headlines PPO's Italian Night concert


Cellist Wen-Sinn Yang headlines the Philippines Philharmonic Orchestra's second subscription series concert happening on October 13, 2023, 7:30 PM at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit, Makati.

Presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the concert, billed as Italian Night, sees the Swiss-born cellist Wen-Sinn Yang perform Antonin Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191. The PPO, led by current Music Director/Principal Conductor, Grzegorz Nowak, will also perform Angel Peña's arrangement of Sarung Banggi: A Symphonic Serenade by Potenciano Gregorio Sr. and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op.90 "Italian", hence the title of the concert.

Wen-Sinn Yang 

Enthusiasm for the unknown and constant research distinguishes Wen-Sinn Yang as one of the most versatile cellists of the present day. His performances not only revive the music of nineteenth-century cello virtuosos such as Adrien François Servais and Karl Yulievich Davydov but also introduce his audiences to such modern composers as Aribert Reimann and Isang Yun.

Alongside his activities as an internationally renowned soloist under conductors including Sir Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Shiao-Chia Lü, Grzegorz Nowak, Daniel Klajner, Yukata Sado and Michael Hofstetter and with such orchestras as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra the Shanghai Symphony, the NHK Tokyo, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Russian State Orchestra of Moscow, Wen-Sinn Yang is also a highly sought-after chamber music partner. His mastery and technical skill are not only strongly expressive but also particularly sensitive, which continues to open up ever-new listening perspectives.

Wen-Sinn Yang's wide-ranging repertoire is documented on more than 30 CDs. These include not only the principal works for violoncello by Boccherini, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Saint-Saens, Lalo, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák but also compositions by Henri Vieuxtemps, Frank Martin, Leonid Sabaneev and Sofia Gubaidulina. Many of these are distinguished as premiere recordings.

Yang has been a professor of Violoncello at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Munich since 2004 and also regularly conducts international master courses.

Maestro Grzegorz Nowak is currently the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s Music Director and Principal Conductor. He is likewise a permanent associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, UK. He was music director of the Polish National Opera, Warsaw, Poland from 2017-2020 and other orchestras in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA. He has conducted orchestral music recorded in over 80 CDs that have received awards and 5-star ratings.

The Philippine Philharmonic's 39th concert season dubbed as Switch is made possible with partners SSI Group, Inc., TBWA\SMP, Ascott Bonifacio Global City, and Lyf Malate Manila.