The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Competition Winners to Perform with Peabody Symphony

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact Only: Margaret Bell 410-234-4525 m.bell@jhu.edu Richard Selden 410-234-4526 rselden1@peabody.jhu.edu

Ronaldo Rolim, piano, Sept. 26

Hans Goldstein, cello, Oct. 24

Pianist and Cellist, Both Seniors, are Soloists on Sept. 26 and Oct. 24

September 21, 2009, Baltimore, MD: Two winners of Peabody Conservatory competitions, both seniors, will perform concertos this fall with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hajime Teri Murai. On Saturday, Sept. 26, Ronaldo Rolim will play Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40, and on Saturday, Oct. 24, Hans Goldstein will play Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104. The concerts will take place at 8:00 pm in Peabody’s Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall.

Rolim, a student of Benjamin Pasternack, is the winner of the Harrison L. Winter Piano Competition. Born in Brazil, he entered the Magda Tagliaferro School in São Paulo at the age of 11. In 2005, pianist Flavio Varani invited him to spend a year at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, where he performed a Prokofiev concerto with the Pontiac Oakland Symphony. Rolim has also performed with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, the São Paulo Radio Orchestra, and the São Paulo University Orchestra. He has won awards in more than 15 competitions in Brazil and the United States.

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4 was written in 1926 and revised in 1941, two years before the composer’s death. Composed soon after Rachmaninov attended the 1924 premiere of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the piece, chosen by Rolim, is said to show the influence of that work and of jazz music that Rachmaninov heard while in the U.S.

Also on the Sept. 26 program are Barber’s Overture to “The School for Scandal,” written in 1931 while the composer was studying at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43, written in 1902 and often connected with the struggle for Finnish independence.

Goldstein, who will play Dvořák’s Cello Concerto on Oct. 24, is the winner of the Peggy and Yale Gordon Concerto Competition, which rotates annually among piano, bowed strings, and other orchestral instruments. A native of Norway, Goldstein is a student of Amit Peled. His performances have been broadcast on Norwegian radio and television and on radio programs in New Hampshire and Wisconsin. He has been a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony and with three orchestras within the Milwaukee Youth Symphony. Earlier this year, he was first prize winner in the strings division of the 2009 National Young Artist Competition in Midland, Texas.

The most often performed concerto for cello, the Dvořák work was written in New York when the composer was director of the National Conservatory. It was first performed the following year by the London Philharmonic conducted by the composer, with soloist Leo Stern.

Also on the Oct. 24 program are Verdi’s Overture to “La forza del destino,” added to the 1862 opera for its premiere at La Scala in 1869, and Symphony in Three Movements by Stravinsky, who referred to it as his “war symphony.” Premiered by the New York Philharmonic conducted by the composer in 1946, the work features parts for piano and harp.

The Peabody Institute, a division of The Johns Hopkins University and one of the world’s most highly regarded music schools, is located at 17 East Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore. To purchase tickets for these Peabody Symphony concerts ($15, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students with I.D.), call the Peabody Box Office at 410-234-4800.

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Ronaldo Rolim, piano, Sept. 26
Hans Goldstein, cello, Oct. 24

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About the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University Located in the heart of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Cultural District, the Peabody Institute was founded in 1857 as America’s first academy of music by philanthropist George Peabody. Today, Peabody boasts a preeminent faculty, a nurturing, collaborative learning environment, and the academic resources of one of the nation’s leading universities, Johns Hopkins. Through its degree-granting Conservatory and its community-based Preparatory music and dance school, Peabody trains musicians and dancers of every age and at every level, from small children to seasoned professionals, from dedicated amateurs to winners of international competitions. Each year, Peabody stages nearly 100 major concerts and performances, ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz, many of them free — a testament to the vision of George Peabody.