The North Carolina Symphony, led by conductor Grant Llewellyn, will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto, featuring pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, on Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. in Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall. The performances will also feature Spem in alium, a motet arranged for strings by Thomas Tallis, and Franz Schubert’s Overture in the Italian Style in C Major and Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major.
Benjamin Grosvenor first came to prominence as the outstanding winner of the Keyboard Final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition at the age of 11. Since then, he has become an internationally regarded pianist performing with orchestras including the London Philharmonic, RAI Torino, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and Tokyo Symphony. Mr. Grosvenor has worked with numerous esteemed conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jirí Belohlávek, Semyon Bychkov, Andrey Boreyko, Sir Mark Elder, Alan Gilbert, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrew Litton, Andrew Manze, Ludovic Morlot, Kent Nagano, Alexander Shelley, Michael Tilson Thomas and François Xavier-Roth, among others.
A BBC New Generation Artist from 2010-12, Mr. Grosvenor has performed at the BBC Proms on a number of occasions and in 2015 starred at the Last Night, performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop.
In 2011, Mr. Grosvenor signed to Decca Classics. In doing so, he has become the youngest British musician ever to sign to the label and the first British pianist to sign to the label in almost 60 years. His most recent release, Dances, has been described as “breathtaking” (The Guardian) and won the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award 2015. During his sensational career to date, he has also received Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year and Instrumental Award, a Classic Brits Critics’ Award, UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent and a Diapason d’Or Jeune Talent Award. Playing piano since the age of six, Mr. Grosvenor graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2012 with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence.
In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events. North Carolina Symphony Associate Conductor David Glover will give pre-concert talks on Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall.
Tickets to the Raleigh performances on Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, range from $18 to $66. Student tickets are $10. Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.