Quad City Symphony Orchestra Masterworks VI: “Rhapsody in Blue,” April 5 and 6

Saturday, April 5, 7:30 p.m.

Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA

Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m.

Augustana College's Centennial Hall, 3703 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL

Hailed by the New York Times for her “impeccable phrase-shaping (and) crystalline sound,” noted pianist Lorraine Min will be the special guest in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's sixth and final Masterworks presentations of the ensemble's 2024-25 season. On April 5 and 6, Rhapsody in Blue will celebrate the centennial of Gershwin’s piano and orchestra masterpiece from the event's title, deliver the premiere of Angel Lam’s evocative new work Please let there be a paradise… (commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation), and close with Prokofiev’s powerful Fifth Symphony.

Guest pianist Min has performed extensively throughout Canada and United States, as well as in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, India, and South America. She has performed solo recitals and has made concerto appearances in some of the world’s most important concert halls such as New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, and the Chan Centre. A dynamic chamber musician, Min has performed in prestigious North American venues including at the Ravinia and Tanglewood Festivals, in Europe, Asia, Australia, notably in Perth’s Western Australia Symphony Orchestra’s Amberley Mozart Day concerts where she was a featured guest artist. She can regularly be heard on CBC and ABC (Australian) radio.

Min’s success in prestigious international competitions include top prizes and special awards of distinction in the Washington International, D’Angelo, Frina Awerbuch, and the William Kapell Competitions. She was the top ranking Canadian pianist at nineteen years old in the Harveys Leeds and Busoni International Competitions, and laureate in the Van Cliburn Competition. The artist's discography includes her solo CD of Schubert and Liszt and a CD featuring chamber music of Beethoven and Brahms for Canada’s esteemed Eine Kleine Music Festival. In 2013, Min released two CDs, her subsequent solo CD In Recital (which features works by Chopin, Liszt, and Bartok), and a CD of violin and piano sonatas by Franck, Debussy, and Prokofiev.

Born in Victoria and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Min studied on full scholarship at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and earned her Bachelor degree, Pi Kappa Lambda. On generous scholarships and numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Min received her Masters and Doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School.

Masterworks VI: Rhapsody in Blue performances will be held at Davenport's Adler Theatre on April 5 at 7:30 p.m. and, in Rock Island, Augustana College's Centennial Hall on April 6 at 2 p.m. One hour prior to each performance, concert-goers are invited to attend informational "Concert Conversations" to learn about the works on the program, and on Saturday, "Afterglow" attendees can mingle with Maestro Mark Russell Smith, guest artists, and members of the QCSO in the lobby of the Hotel Blackhawk immediately following the performance. Admission to the concerts is $8-70, and more information and tickets are available by contacting the Quad City Symphony Orchestra at (563)322-0931 and visiting QCSO.org.