MUSIC | SANTA FE
Sharing in a moment: Olga Kern and the Santa Fe Symphony deliver ‘Romance & Rhapsody’
Published
It’s “Romance & Rhapsody” with pianist Olga Kern as she joins the Santa Fe Symphony on Sunday, Feb. 15, at The Lensic Performing Arts Center.
Kern will be playing alongside the symphony for Joseph Haydn’s Harpsichord Concerto in D Major and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.”
Kern said she prefers performing live because the concerts are all about feelings and energy.
“It’s like a circle between someone who is performing and someone who is listening,” Kern said.
“It’s just sharing in that moment …,” Kern said, “and I feel like classical music gives that incredibly deep emotions and feelings.”
A pianist “since birth,” Kern said she grew up with a family rooted in music. She said while she enjoys listening to other piano genres, she has always considered classical music the most important avenue in her life.
“I always wanted to play classical music because both my parents, they were in a classical music world,” Kern said.
She has traveled the world playing classical pieces and said she loves working with orchestras because it is always a new experience.
“Every time, it’s just different people and different approaches,” Kern said, “and it’s great to meet them and rehearse with them and just find something new in a piece.”
Kern has performed in Santa Fe many times and her relationship with the symphony goes back 20 years.
“This is a great group of people, and they’re just always wonderful to work with,” Kern said.
Kern said Santa Fe is a special for her and she is excited to return.
“I love my public there, and I know that they love me there because I feel that wonderful energy coming from them every time I play there,” Kern said.
Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.
