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Stamford Symphony Concert Showcases Beethoven, Schubert

STAMFORD, CONN. -- The Stamford Symphony and music director Eckart Preu will take concertgoers to Vienna with works by Beethoven, Schubert and Hummel in two February concerts.

Karen Gomyo will be performing Beethoven’s violin concerto at the Stamford Symphony in February.

Karen Gomyo will be performing Beethoven’s violin concerto at the Stamford Symphony in February.

Photo Credit: Contributed

The concerts on Feb. 11 (8 p.m.) and Feb. 12 (3 p.m.) will take music enthusiasts to the land of coffee houses, art salons and concert halls. Vienna has often been described as the hotbed of musical talent. The concert will also feature rising star violinist, Karen Gomyo.

The concert begins with a very familiar Viennese folksong that was composed in 1679 by Max Augustin. Hummel, a child prodigy himself, added variations to feature the solo sections for the first chair. Also being featured in the concert is Austrian composer Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, in C Major, which was not discovered until after his death, like many of this other symphonic works.

While Beethoven grew up in a German household, at age 17, he moved to Vienna, where he worked with Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven wrote the Violin Concerto in D Major to include many challenges for the soloist, the first of its kind in the late classical period.

Recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008,  Gomyo will be performing Beethoven’s violin concerto. She has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "A first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity", and by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “captivating, honest and soulful, fueled by abundant talent but not a vain display of technique”.

Gomyo has established herself in recent years as a much in demand soloist internationally, performing with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra. Outside of the US, she has appeared with the Danish National Symphony, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, and Sydney Symphony.

Recently, a documentary film about Stradivarius produced by Japan's NHK, “The Mysteries of the Supreme Violin”, in which Gomyo was violinist, guide, and narrator, was broadcast worldwide on NHK WORLD.

Gomyo plays on the “Aurora, ex-Foulis” Stradivarius violin of 1703 that was bought for her exclusive use by a private sponsor.

Single tickets are also available at the Stamford Symphony box office, which is open from 12-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and via www.stamfordsymphony.org

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