The concert opens with the Tchaikovsky Polonaise from his opera “Eugene Onegin,” described by Webber as “a piece that feels like popping the cork on a great bottle of champagne!” She continues, “It is an exciting invitation to focus our attention on what comes next: Tchaikovsky’s remarkable Violin Concerto. I’m particularly excited about this performance, because not only is Elizabeth Pitcairn one of the most remarkable violinists performing today, she’s also a good friend. In this performance, she and I are revisiting this concerto together for the first time in a quarter century when we performed it as students at the University of Southern California. Pitcairn has a particularly rich and detailed interpretation of this exciting concerto, and she plays a remarkable instrument that carries much of music history in its DNA. The centuries-old Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius is an instrument like no other, and it truly sings in Elizabeth’s sensitive and expert hands.”

The concert closes with one of the Romantic era’s most inspired symphonic works, Symphony in D Minor, the only symphony composed by Belgian-born French composer, Cesar Franck. Webber says, “The symphony is deeply, personally expressive. It is cyclical, meaning everything stems from the first theme you hear, and all the primary themes are interwoven and related to one another and return at the end of the symphony in a blaze of glory. The middle movement is perhaps one of the most poignant, lyrical, songs you’ve ever heard, beautifully sung out by the English horn and accompanied by harp and pizzicato (plucked) strings.  It builds into one of the most satisfying symphonic experiences you can imagine. This will be a blockbuster concert, presented  with a personal touch.”

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., preceded by “Inside the Music” talk by Webber, 7–7:15. During intermission, entertainment in the lobby will feature the “Open Strings World Music Ensemble,” a group of local middle school musicians led by Jim Hurley. There will also be a complimentary wine and sparkling cider reception in the lobby following the performance. Tickets at https://livermoreamadorsymphony.org/tickets.html or 925-373-6800. Tickets for Youth under age 22 are always free.

Elizabeth Pitcairn has earned a reputation as one of America’s most beloved soloists. She appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music and in 2000 gave her New York debut at Alice Tully Hall with the New York String Orchestra. She has since performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Fisher Center, and the Kimmel Center. Passionate about youth and education, she serves as President and Artistic Director of the Luzerne Music Center in upstate New York which provides training for gifted young musicians ages 9 to 18. Born in 1973 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to a musical family, Pitcairn began playing the violin at age 3 and made her orchestral debut at 14. Her path led her to Los Angeles to study with preeminent violin professor Robert Lipsett at the University of Southern California. She is a former faculty member of USC and the Colburn School and an alumna of the Marlboro Music Festival, Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians, the Meadowmount School, the Encore School for Strings, and the National Repertory Orchestra. She is the former concertmaster of Southern California’s New West Symphony under the direction of Boris Brott. Pitcairn believes strongly in philanthropy and is a frequent performer for such charitable events as the American Cancer Society, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Helping Hands and Hearts Foundation, and the Nakashima Foundation for Peace.

Tchaikovsky: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Elizabeth Pitcairn, soloist
Franck: Symphony in D Minor