THSO Performs Final Concert of 2021-2022 Season with Award-Winning Pianist Drew Petersen

[Terre Haute, IN] – On April 30, 2022, at 7:30pm, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms & Rachmaninoff featuring the immensely talented Drew Petersen, a highly sought-after soloist who has performed throughout the United States and internationally, as guest artist to perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concert.  

Mr. Petersen was presented at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall at age five, and by age 10 he was presented in a solo recital at Steinway Hall in Manhattan for the company’s 150th Anniversary. He graduated cum laude from Harvard at age 19 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in social science and did his graduate music studies at the Juilliard School. More recently, he’s been praised for his commanding and poetic performances of repertoire ranging from Bach to Zaimont and is the recipient of several esteemed awards and a residency at the University of Indianapolis. Mr. Petersen will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 2 (1901), considered by many to be the world’s favorite piano concerto. 

Rachmaninoff had a gift for crafting memorable melodies, which influenced generations of American songwriters, some of whom lifted tunes intact and turned them to jazz standards. The Second Concerto alone spawned three such songs; in the 1940s, a Tin Pan Alley composer named Ted Mossman turned two of Rachmaninoff’s melodies into the standards “Till the End of Time” and “Full Moon and Empty Arms.” According to the program notes written by THSO composer-in-residence Dan Powers, “The development [of the concerto] begins vivaciously, but gradually takes on a heroic quality, until the recapitulation begins with the principal theme in a march-like variation.” The concerto ends after its three movements with a grand, whirlwind finish. 

Brahms & Rachmaninoff will open with Dan Powers’ original piece Overture to the THSO (2005), which is dedicated to the THSO’s Artistic Director, Dr. David Bowden, and will conclude with Johannes Brahms’ (1833-1897) astonishingly powerful Symphony No. 1 (1876).  

The symphony opens with a movement of unmatched passion and power. The second movement features “rich, chordal string writing, answered by a lyrical oboe solo” as Powers writes in the program notes. After a graceful interlude in place of the third movement, comes the Finale with a vast introduction. Some writers have suggested that the movement really begins with two introductions; the first tragic, beginning mysteriously and culminating in a series of outbursts, the second optimistic, with a sunny, lyrical horn call and a brief chorale in the trombones. The piece ends with a quickening tempo leading into a triumphant coda. 

“Brahms first symphony is simply fabulous. It touches the listener with deep emotion and ends with absolute exhilaration,” notes Dr. David Bowden, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Terre Haute Symphony. “And being able to present Drew Petersen with his tour-de-force pianistic virtuosity is a major event for our community. Definitely not-to-be-missed.” 

This concert is proudly sponsored by William & Nancy Shriner, William Hughes, David & Barbara Hagerman, Dick & Betsy Frank, Carl Bender & Barbara Brugnaux.  

Tickets   

Patrons can purchase concert tickets by visiting www.thso.org or calling the Hulman Center at (812) 237-3737. Tickets start at $17 for adults and $4 for children and students. Prices do not include facility and venue fees.   

Supper at the Symphony 

The THSO is pleased to host Supper at the Symphony prior to Brahms & Rachmaninoff! Come to the concert early and enjoy a delectable three-course meal served in the Heritage Ballroom of Tirey Hall, right down the hall from Tilson Auditorium. The cash bar opens at 5:00pm, and dinner is served promptly at 5:30pm. Dinner reservations are $25 per person. Patrons will enjoy a salad to start and choose one entrée of either Chicken Breast Florentine, Soy Glazed Salmon, or a Vegetable Wellington. Chocolate mousse parfaits will be served for dessert. Reservations can be made at www.thso.org or by calling the THSO office at (812) 242-8476. Reservations close at 12pm on Tuesday, April 26th. 

Masks   

Masks are optional per Indiana State University’s current COVID-19 policy. 

Parking   

Patrons may park in the Indiana State Parking garage located at 750 Cherry Street for free between 4 PM and 11 PM on the day of the concert. This parking garage is located across the street from Tilson Auditorium.