Retirement Planners of America to sponsor PSO’s first concert of the New Year
PLANO, TX (January 6, 2023): The Plano Symphony Orchestra (PSO) kicks off the new year continuing the 40th Anniversary Season, Celebrating Connections, with a special concert on Saturday, January 21, at 8 p.m. at the Eisemann Center. Joining Maestro Héctor Guzmán and the PSO will be Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s principal cellist Christopher Adkins and Steinway Artist Jorge Federico Osorio. The PSO’s ruby anniversary also commemorates Maestro Héctor Guzmán’s 40 inspiring years as the Symphony’s music director, and each concert in the season relates to his journey with the PSO.
In a celebratory season filled with connections, this concert is important to Maestro Guzmán. Entitled “Héctor and Friends,” it features guest artists the maestro has known from the beginning of his remarkable career.
“Throughout my career, I have been blessed with the opportunity to share the stage with wonderful soloists,” said Maestro Héctor Guzmán. “It is an added privilege when those soloists have been your friends for a long time. Internationally acclaimed pianist Jorge Federico Osorio has performed with me on several memorable occasions, and this time, he will perform the beloved piano concerto by Grieg. What makes this so special is that many years ago, I had the privilege to participate in a masterclasses taught by Jorge’s mother, Luz María Puente. In fact, she was one of the judges that made it possible for me to receive my first ever music scholarship at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City! Also in the program, Dallas Symphony’s principal cellist Christopher Adkins, one of my roommates at the University of North Texas, will join me in the performance of Schelomo, Bloch’s Hebraic suite for cello and orchestra. It is the very first piece I studied and conducted under my mentor Anshel Brusilow at UNT—with Chris as soloist! Talk about an emotional reunion! The rousing prelude to Wagner’s Act III of his opera Lohengrin will open the program, and we will conclude with one of my favorite pieces: de Falla’s brilliant dances from his ballet The Three-Cornered Hat. I cannot wait for you to join me in the excitement of this special evening. See you at the symphony!”
Tickets range $27-$93 and can be purchased through the Plano Symphony Orchestra Box Office (972-473-7262, planosymphony.org).
Christopher Adkins joined the Dallas Symphony in 1987. He previously served in principal positions with the Milwaukee, New Haven, and Denver symphonies. A native of Denton, Texas, Adkins holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Yale University. Adkins also studied with former Dallas Symphony Principal Cello Lev Aronson. As a member of the contemporary music ensemble, Voices of Change, Adkins was nominated for a Grammy Award for the recording Voces Americanas. He also serves as adjunct Associate Professor of music at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Adkins is married to Dallas Symphony violinist Alexandra Adkins.
Jorge Federico Osorio has been lauded throughout the world for his superb musicianship, powerful technique, vibrant imagination, and deep passion. A recipient of the prestigious Medalla Bellas Artes, the highest honor granted by Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts, Osorio has performed with many of the world’s leading ensembles, including the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia, to name a few. He has collaborated with such distinguished conductors as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Lorin Maazel, Juanjo Mena, Klaus Tennstedt, and Jaap van Zweden, among many others. Osorio began studying the piano at the age of five with his mother, Luz María Puente, and later attended the conservatories of Mexico, Paris, and Moscow, where he worked with Bernard Flavigny, Monique Haas, and Jacob Milstein. Highly revered in his native Mexico, Osorio resides in the Chicagoland area, where he serves on the faculty at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts.