The Fresno State Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Thomas Loewenheim, will present its final concert of the season on Saturday, April 28, at 8:00 p.m. in the Department of Music Concert Hall. The concert, titled The Emperor Concerto, will feature the internationally acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk, one of America’s foremost pianists, who will be featured at the Philip Lorenz Keyboard Series, the night before.

See poster.

Winner of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Denk returns frequently to Carnegie Hall and has recently performed with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra, as well as on tour with Academy St. Martin in the Fields, and at the Royal Albert Hall this Summer performing Bartok 2 in his return to the BBC Proms. Mr. Denk will perform what some consider as Beethoven’s greatest piano concerto, his fifth named “Emperor”. It was composed early in 1809, in part while the French army under Napoleon laid siege to Vienna. That conflict perhaps influenced the concerto’s often militaristic style, but the origin of its nickname “Emperor” is not known.

The orchestra will close the concert with Sergei Prokofiev’s monumental Symphony No. 5. Almost any discussion of Sergei Prokofiev inevitably brings up the subject of war. His life and works were profoundly affected by both the Russian Revolution and World War II. The work was written in the summer of 1944 in the midst of World War II, and its premiere performance had to be briefly halted due to celebratory cannon fire outside the concert hall, because the Russian army had just scored a resounding victory on the River Vistula. The composer's mind was reflected in the fluency and emotional depth of his music. Prokofiev wrote: "In the Fifth Symphony I wanted to sing the praises of the free and happy man — his strength, his generosity and the purity of his soul. I cannot say I chose this theme; it was born in me and had to express itself."

Tickets: General: $15; Employees & Seniors: $10; Students: $5. For more information and ticket sales please check the Department of Music webpage at http://www.fresnostate.edu/music.