Olga Kern International Piano Competition Archives

Celebrating Rachmaninoff / September 30, 2023

Happy birthday, Rachmaninoff! The New Mexico Philharmonic celebrates the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth with two of the Russian master’s most stellar compositions. First up, the Second Piano Concerto—a perennial audience favorite—with 2022 Olga Kern International Piano Competition winner Jonathan Mamora. Closing out the evening is the striking and dramatic Symphony No. 1, whose disastrous premiere almost caused Rachmaninoff to swear off composing all together! Music Director Roberto Minczuk leads the orchestra in the 2023/24 Popejoy Hall Classics opening concert.

May 7, 2023

Symphonie Fantastique / November 18, 2023

Returning to the NMPhil stage is 2019 Olga Kern International Piano Competition winner Tetiana Shafran, performing Mozart’s tuneful Concerto No. 23. Drama abounds in French composer Édouard Lalo’s Overture from his opera Le roi d’Ys. The evening ends with the storied and programmatic Symphonie fantastique of Hector Berlioz—a tale of unrequited love and one of the most important works in the orchestral rep. Fabio Mechetti conducts.

May 7, 2023

Capricious Capriccios / January 20, 2024

Lively, brilliant, whimsical. The New Mexico Philharmonic presents an evening of capriccios! NMPhil concertmaster Cármelo de los Santos performs the virtuosic Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso of Saint-Saëns. Also on the program, two Russian composers’ takes on the folk tunes of Spain and Italy: the brightly orchestrated Capriccio espagnol of Rimsky-Korsakov and the Capriccio Italien of Tchaikovsky, inspired by a soul-healing trip the composer took to Rome. Music Director Roberto Minczuk leads the evening, which ends with Puccini’s, Capriccio Sinfonica as a 100 year tribute to the composer’s death.

May 7, 2023

Third Olga Kern International Piano Competition Finals / October 29, 2022

The Olga Kern International Piano Competition (OKIPC) provides New Mexico Philharmonic audiences the opportunity to see developing world-class pianists at the beginning of their professional careers. The finalists and winners of the Competition will go on to long and acclaimed careers performing before diverse audiences on every continent, and New Mexico Philharmonic audiences will always remember that their careers began here. The Competition takes place every three years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is open to pianists 18 to 32 years old.

May 31, 2022