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Utah Symphony Presents a Masterworks Program of Musical Tributes
Pianist George Li Returns to Utah to Perform Paganini’s Famous Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini With Conductor Ludovic Morlot
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — In modern popular music, “sampling” is a common technique, taking an excerpt or element of an earlier song and transforming it into something new. This idea, in fact, dates centuries back. The Utah Symphony’s upcoming O.C. Tanner Masterworks Series program offers prime examples of musical tributes — or, what could be considered sampling in symphonic music. The concerts take place Friday and Saturday at Maurice Abravanel Hall, and the public is also invited to a ticketed dress rehearsal on Friday morning to witness the artistic process of refining a performance.
Pianist George Li — who first performed with the Utah Symphony in 2010 at age 14 and is now building a major international career thanks to his grace and virtuosity far beyond his years — joins the orchestra for Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” Pianist Andrei Korobeinikov, who was previously scheduled to appear at this concert, is unable to travel to Utah due to a pandemic-related delay in visa processing, but looks forward to joining the Utah Symphony next season.