Ohlsson Returned to Palm Beach Symphony

Garrick Ohlsson (IndieHouse Films)

(Press Release) West Palm Beach, Fla. (March 20, 2025) – Acclaimed American pianist Garrick Ohlsson returned to Palm Beach Symphony to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 in the Symphony’s Masterworks Concert Series. Its lush, lyrical melodies have enchanted audiences for generations and has been borrowed by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan. Music Director Gerard Schwarz also led the Symphony in the works of two American composers – Paul Creston’s delightful Invocation and Dance, Op. 58, with syncopated rhythms that live up to its title, and Howard Hanson’s lyrical and soaring Symphony No. 2, Op. 30, W45, known as “Romantic.” This performance was generously underwritten by Thomas Harvey and Cathleen Black.  

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Known worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess, Ohlsson gave a masterful performance of Rachmaninoff’s most celebrated, intensely impassioned Second Piano Concerto, composed during the turn of the century. "Garrick Ohlsson is one of the greatest pianists alive today," said Maestro Schwarz. "Like the third, Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto is one of the most popular and exquisite concertos ever written. Garrick takes the intrinsic characteristics of Rachmaninoff's artistry and almost makes the piece his own."

Because of the thunderous applause and standing ovations, Ohlsson performed two encores by Chopin--Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2 and the Minute Waltz.

Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, Ohlsson’s been regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin. He commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Ohlsson has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. To date, he has at his command more than 80 concertos, ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century, the most recent being “Oceans Apart” by Justin Dello Joio commissioned for him by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and now available on Bridge Recordings. Released on Reference Recordings is the complete Beethoven concerti with Sir Donald Runnicles and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.

Ohlsson has been a guest artist with orchestras throughout the U.S. including Nashville, Atlanta, Sarasota, Rhode Island, New York, Seattle, Baltimore and West Palm Beach and internationally in New Zealand, Australia, Prague, Krakow, Singapore, Warsaw, Lyon, Oxford (UK) and more. An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Cleveland, Emerson, Tokyo and Takacs string quartets. Passionate about singing and singers, Ohlsson has appeared in recital with such legendary artists as Magda Olivero, Jessye Norman and Ewa Podleś. His 10-disc set of the complete Beethoven Sonatas for Bridge Records has garnered critical acclaim, including a GRAMMY® for Vol. 3. His recording of Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3 with the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Spano was released in 2011. 

This performance opened with Creston’s Invocation and Dance, Op. 58. Interestingly, Creston was Maestro Schwarz’s composition teacher for three years in high school in New York. Creston later taught at the University of Washington State and retired in San Diego, where he died in 1985. Over the years, Maestro Schwarz has played and recorded many of Creston’s works. The husband of a modern dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, many of Creston’s compositions contain the word “dance” in the title. 

“His music was very rhythmically oriented. The 'Invocation' is like an introduction with slow music and solos for the flute, while the 'Dance' is full of incredibly intricate rhythms," said Maestro Schwarz. "Creston was a great believer in the power of those ostinatos, those little repetitive rhythmic sections. He was a great teacher and a great person. I loved him.”

Before breaking for intermission, Hanson’s Second Symphony “Romantic” followed Creston’s piece. Composed on commission from Serge Koussevitzky for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930, this is his most famous work. Born in Nebraska and of Scandinavian heritage, Hanson lived in Rochester, New York while serving as the first director of the Eastman School of Music. He drew inspiration from the music of Jean Sibelius as well as from his American surroundings. 

In keeping with his tradition to elevate the work of great American composers, Maestro Schwarz performed and recorded this work for Naxos with the Seattle Symphony. “As a kid, I loved Howard Hanson," he said. "It’s the first piece I ever conducted, when I was 11. When I became music director in Seattle, I recorded all his symphonies and played them quite often, so I was excited to bring the 'Romantic' to Palm Beach.”

The Jazz Combo from West Boca Raton High School, under the tutelage of Band Director Larry Shane, greeted guests with a special pre-concert performance in the Kravis Center lobby.

Additional information about this concert and the complete 2024-2025 Season schedule is available at PalmBeachSymphony.org. The Masterworks concerts continue at the Kravis Center with Anne-Marie McDermott, piano (April 8) and a bonus seventh “Encore” community concert featuring Kevin Kenner, piano (May 19). Individual tickets for the concerts are on sale now. Concert tickets range in price from $25 to $95. Tickets may be purchased online at PalmBeachSymphony.org, by phone at (561) 281-0145 and at the Palm Beach Symphony Box Office weekdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at 700 South Dixie Highway, Suite 100, West Palm Beach.

The Symphony will also present informal and informative Lunch and Learns on Thursdays, April 3 and May 15 from noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Maestro Schwarz in the Symphony's conference room located in the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties building, 700 S. Dixie Hwy. in West Palm Beach. Guests will enjoy a three-course gourmet lunch catered by SandyJames Fine Food & Productions and a selection of wines curated by Palm Beach Symphony sponsor Private Cask Imports while deepening their connection with the musicians and performances through a glimpse behind the curtain of how the Symphony prepares for concerts, selects repertoire and more. They will learn about the subject matter and composer that will be performed during the upcoming concert, while enriching their concert experience. Tickets are $125 and complimentary valet parking will be provided.

Proud sponsors of Palm Beach Symphony include Cindy and Jerome Canty, Mrs. James N. Bay, Carol and Harold Baxter, C. Kenneth and Laura Baxter Foundation, Inc., JoAnne Berkow, Kathy Lee Bickham and John Bickham, Leslie Rogers Blum, Yvonne S. Boice Trust and Alfred Zucaro, Jeffrey and Tina Bolton, James R. Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui / FINDLAY Galleries, Jerome J. Claeys, Thomas and Carol Bruce, CIBC Private Wealth, Amy and John Collins, The Colony Hotel, CORPGOV, Suzanne Mott Dansby, The David Minkin Foundation, Michelle DuBois and James Roiter, Jacqueline and Ray K. Farris, Mary and Will Demory, Herbert H. and Barbara C. Dow Foundation,  Willard H. Dow and Kelly Winter, Dr. Richard and Diane Farber, Bill and Kem Frick/The Frick Foundation, Inc., Edith Hall Friedheim/Eric Friedheim Foundation, Gerry Gibian and Marjorie Yashar, Paul and Sandra Goldner, Douglas and Jo Gressette, Irwin and Janet Gusman, Walter Harper, Thomas E. Harvey & Cathleen P. Black Foundation, Doris Hastings Foundation, Carol S. and Joseph Andrew Hays, John Herrick, Addison Hines Charitable Trust, George Hines, HSS Florida, IPO Edge, Charles and Ann Johnson/The C and A Johnson Family Foundation, Elaine Kay, Aban and Percy Kavasmaneck, Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Gary and Linda Lachman/The Lachman Family Foundation, Patricia Lambrecht/The Lambrecht Family Foundation, Lugano Diamonds, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, The Honorable Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, The McNulty Charitable Foundation, Tish Messinger, David Moscow, Palm Beach Design Masters, Patrick and Milly Park/Park Foundation, Nancy and Ellis J. Parker, III, PNC Private Bank, Lois Pope, Provident Jewelry, Ari Rifkin/The Len-Ari Foundation, Dr. Martha Rodriguez and Dr. Jesus Perez-Mendez, Annette Urso Rickel Foundation, Karen Hunt Rogers, The Honorable Ronald A. Rosenfeld, David Schafer, Seth Sprague Foundation, Robin B. Smith, Kimberly V. Strauss, Dodie and Manley Thaler and the Thaler/Howell Foundation, Don and Mary Thompson, Jerome and Carol Trautschold, Sieglinde Wikstrom/The Wikstrom Foundation, and The Ann Eden Woodward Foundation/James and Judy Woods.