On May 3, 2025, Olga Kern performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 for the final concert of the 2024-25 Philharmonic season.
Ms. Kern, who began studying piano at age five in her native country of Russia, garnered international attention when she became the first woman in over thirty years to receive the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal in 2001.
She has won major prizes at several prestigious international competitions; performed with many prominent orchestras, including Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra; and released numerous recordings under the Harmonia Mundi label.
Ms. Kern is also a Steinway Artist, an honor bestowed on accomplished pianists who choose to perform exclusively on Steinway pianos.
Mr. Fabio Witkowski, director of the music program, said, “I’ve known Olga for more than 15 years. I am really happy that finally there was a convergence of good spirits and we could find a date that worked. Having one of the most powerful female pianists of our time play with the Philharmonic is just fantastic.”
Violinist James Zhou ’28, who played with the Philharmonic, said, “I feel we achieved a great depth of emotion in the concerto. Ms. Kern’s spectacular artistic expression and interpretations were especially powerful, moving, and inspiring.”
Speaking of the choice of program, Ms. Kern said, “The piece is special, because Rachmaninoff was not composing for a few years and then suddenly created such incredible music. When I was learning the piece, it felt like something so incredibly mine, but at the same time something that I can share with the world. I have performed this concerto multiple times, and every time I play it with a new orchestra there is a different and unique feeling.”
When asked to give advice to student pianists, Ms. Kern said, “Learn piano repertoire, but also be wise and have greater interest in orchestral music. Opera music makes a pianist more of a musician in the heart and soul.”
