ISO presents music of Scheherazade with conductor Valentina Peleggi & pianist Joyce Yang

Featuring the music of Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov & contemporary composer Anna Clyne

Joyce Yang dazzles in Prokofiev’s sparkling third Piano Concerto, a piece with the one of the most brilliant finishes of any work in the genre. Anna Clyne’s Masquerade conjures images of a chaotic revelry. Conductor Valentina Peleggi makes her ISO debut and transports us into a Middle Eastern fairy tale with Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic Scheherazade.

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Performances begin at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 28, and at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1. Arrive 50 minutes before the concert start time to hear “Words on Music,” a 20-minute presentation about the concert and what listeners can expect to hear.

For more information regarding the policies of the Hilbert Circle Theatre, please visit IndianapolisSymphony.org.

About Valentina Peleggi
Valentina Peleggi has been Music Director of the Richmond Symphony (Virginia) since the 2020-21 season and has already revitalized the orchestra’s artistic output. While focusing on developing the orchestra’s own sound she has also launched new concert formats, joined national co-commission partnerships, started a three-year composer in residence program, launched conducting masterclasses in collaboration with the local universities, and championed neglected composers from diverse backgrounds. During the pandemic she sat on the jury of the first virtual Menuhin Competition hosted by the Richmond Symphony.

Peleggi holds a Master in Conducting with honors from the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, and in 2013 was awarded the Accademia Chigiana’s highest award, going on to assist Bruno Campanella and Gianluigi Gelmetti at Teatro Regio di Torino, Opera Bastille Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro San Carlo. She also assisted on a live worldwide broadcast and DVD production of Rossini’s Cenerentola with the Orchestra Nazionale della RAI. From 2005 to 2015 she was the Principal Conductor and Music Director of the University Choir in Florence and remains their Honorary Conductor, receiving a special award from the Government in 2011 in recognition of her work there. Peleggi is passionate about the arts and holds a master in Comparative Literature.

About Joyce Yang
Blessed with “poetic and sensitive pianism” (Washington Post) and a “wondrous sense of color” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Grammy-nominated pianist Joyce Yang captivates audiences with her virtuosity, lyricism, and interpretive sensitivity.

She first came to international attention in 2005 when she won the silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The youngest contestant at 19 years old, she took home two additional awards: Best Performance of Chamber Music (with the Takàcs Quartet), and Best Performance of a New Work. In 2006 Yang made her celebrated New York Philharmonic debut alongside Lorin Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall along with the orchestra’s tour of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea. Yang’s subsequent appearances with the New York Philharmonic have included opening night of the 2008 Leonard Bernstein Festival – an appearance made at the request of Maazel in his final season as music director. The New York Times pronounced her performance in Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety a “knockout.”

In the last decade, Yang has blossomed into an “astonishing artist” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), showcasing her colorful musical personality in solo recitals and collaborations with the world’s top orchestras and chamber musicians through more than 1,000 debuts and re-engagements. She received the 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant and earned her first Grammy nomination (Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance) for her recording of Franck, Kurtág, Previn & Schumann with violinist Augustin Hadelich (“One can only sit in misty-eyed amazement at their insightful flair and spontaneity.” – The Strad). She has become a staple of the summer festival circuit with frequent appearances on the programs of the Aspen Summer Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest and the Seattle Chamber Music Society.