Denis Matsuev Featured in Utah Symphony Season Finale

SALT LAKE CITY (May 27, 2005) — On May 27 and 28, Yamaha artist Denis Matsuev will join conductor Pavel Kogan and the Utah Symphony to conclude the symphony’s season at Salt Lake City’s Abravanel Hall. The program will feature Matsuev performing the ever-popular romantic Piano Concerto in A Minor by Grieg, and the concert will be rounded out by Mendelsohn’s “Italian” Symphony No. 4 as well as selections from Gershwin’s beloved opera Porgy and Bess.

Denis Matsuev has become a fast-rising star on the international concert stage in the wake of his triumphant victory at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has appeared in hundreds of recitals at prestigious concert halls throughout the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Musikhalle in Hamburg, the Great Hall of Conservatoire in Moscow, the Great Hall of Philharmonie in St. Petersburg and the Metropolitan Opera City in Tokyo. He has given performances in numerous festivals such as the Russian Winter Festival in Moscow, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Festival in London, the Auvers-Sur-Oise Festival, the La Cote-St-Andre (Berlioz) Festival in France; Chopin Festival in Dushniki, Poland; as well as festivals in Brazil, China, Spain, and Turkey.

Pavel Kogan, Music Director of the Moscow State Symphony since 1990, made his conducting debut in 1974 with the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1997, Kogan made his triumphant North American debut with the Milwaukee Symphony, and from 1998 to 2004 served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Utah Symphony. Since his North American debut, Kogan has made guest appearances with the symphony orchestras of Vancouver; Houston; Toronto; the National Arts Centre, Indianapolis; Oregon; and Kansas City. He is also a frequent guest conductor throughout Europe.

For further information on the performances, visit www.utahsymphony.org.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.