The evening will feature a trio of stirring, melodious and folk-tune infused works, beginning with Tchaikovsky’s March slave, a patriotic work based on Serbian and Russian folk themes that remains one of his most popular short works.

Guest cellist Tony Rymer, who has performed major concerti to critical acclaim across the country, will be featured as a soloist on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, which illustrates the composer’s ability to display a wide range of emotions within a single composition.

The performance will close with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, considered by many to be the composer’s greatest achievement, one that resides alongside some of the most-important works in the growth of the symphonic era post-Beethoven.

A Preview from the Podium, featuring Maestro Wilkins discussing the evening’s program, will begin at 7 p.m.

About Tony Rymer

Cellist Tony Rymer has performed major concerti to critical acclaim with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Pops, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others. He was the Second Prize Winner in the 2014 Enescu Competition, won first prize of the 2009 Sphinx Competition Senior Division and took 3rd place in the 2009 Stulberg International String Competition.

A native of Boston, Tony began playing cello at age five, attended the Walnut Hill Arts School, was a Project STEP scholarship student from 1996-2007, and was awarded the prestigious Kravitz scholarship in 2007. One of the first recipients of the Jack Kent Cooke Award on the NPR national radio show From the Top, he has also been heard as soloist on WGBH Boston, WCLV Cleveland, and NPR’s Performance Today.

An avid chamber musician, Tony has collaborated in concert with artists such as violinists Ani Kavafian, Miriam Fried, Midori, Itzhak Perlman, violists Kim Kashkashian, Barbara Westphal, and cellist Paul Katz. Tony is a regular guest at chamber music festivals including the Ravinia Steans Institute, the Marlboro Music Festival, and Krzyzowa Music.

Tony has played privately for Yo-Yo Ma and performed in master classes for Anner Bylsma, Steven Isserlis, and Pieter Wispelwey. He studied at the New England Conservatory with Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser while holding the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship. Tony is currently a Masters student of Frans Helmerson at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.

Tony plays a cello on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (Paris).

Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Tony Rymer, cello
Tchaikovsky Marche slave
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1
Dvořák Symphony No. 7