IGNITE: Stefan Cassomenos
Sat, 24 Apr
|Frankston Arts Centre
Rhapsody in Blue & Rachmaninov Two. Australian piano legend returns to the FSO after fifteen years. Most pianists would choose – Cassomenos plays both.
Date & Venue
24 Apr 2027, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Frankston Arts Centre, 27/37 Davey St, Frankston VIC 3199
About the Concert
Some concerts introduce a soloist. This one straps you in and dares you to keep up.
After fifteen years, Stefan Cassomenos returns to the Frankston Symphony Orchestra in a full-throttle feat of stamina and artistry. Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue – that unmistakable clarinet glissando, the jazz-drenched swagger, the sense of a city coming awake – and Rachmaninov's Second, a work of such emotional scale that most orchestras build an entire programme around it alone. Most pianists would choose; Cassomenos plays both.
IGNITE is built for momentum. Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man: brass and drums, nothing but raw power. John Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine: written after a friend scared him half to death in a sports car. And Sonic Boom, by Australian composer Natalie Williams: over before you've had a chance to breathe. On the podium, Thaddeus Huang brings his signature dynamism and energy to an evening that never once slows down.
ARTISTS
Stefan Cassomenos Piano
Thaddeus Huang Conductor
Frankston Symphony Orchestra
PROGRAM
COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man
ADAMS Short Ride in a Fast Machine
GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
Natalie WILLIAMS Sonic Boom
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2
FSO 60th Anniversary Season • IGNITE 24 Apr • SOAR 20 Jun • WONDER 26 Sep