Beethoven & Strauss
The season concludes with a powerful pairing of Beethoven and Strauss, under the skilled direction of JoAnn Falletta. Kenny Broberg, celebrated for his profound musical insight and technical mastery, performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a work of deep emotional resonance that showcases the composer’s revolutionary spirit. The concert culminates with Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, a grandiose tone poem that offers a complex, autobiographical portrait of the composer himself. This piece, with its vast orchestral forces and dramatic themes, provides a fitting close to a season of exceptional music-making. The program promises an evening of reflection on personal and artistic heroism, exploring the themes of challenge, triumph, and the artist’s role in society.
This performance is made possible by the Michal and Jim Wadsworth Concert Endowment.
This performance is dedicated in loving memory of Angelo Fatta.
Program
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kenny Broberg, piano
BEETHOVEN Concerto No. 3 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 37
I. Allegro con brio
II. Largo
III. Rondo: Allegro
INTERMISSION
STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), Op. 40
Lauded for his inventive, intelligent, and intense performances, Kenny Broberg has become one of the most decorated and internationally renowned pianists of his generation. He is the winner of the 2021 American Piano Awards and Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship, captured the silver medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the bronze medal at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has also taken prizes at the Hastings, Sydney, Seattle, and New Orleans International piano competitions.
Of his performance in the finals of the American Piano Awards, the Indianapolis Star wrote, “Broberg mastered everything he performed…pulling a palette of moods from every register.”
Broberg earned his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Houston Moores School of Music studying under Nancy Weems, and continued his studies at Park University in Missouri under the tutelage of Stanislav Ioudenitch, gold medalist at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. During the 2022-24 academic years, Broberg was Deputy Professor of the Fundación Banco Santander Piano Chair (also led by Ioudenitch) at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, Spain.
Performing on stages and in concert halls internationally, Broberg has worked with some of the world’s most respected conductors and artists, including Ludovic Morlot, Kent Nagano, Leonard Slatkin, Vasily Petrenko, Nicholas Milton, John Storgårds, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Gerard Schwarz, Stilian Kirov, and Joshua Bell. Recent seasons have included performances with the Indianapolis, Kansas City, Phoenix, Seattle, and Sydney symphonies and recital appearances in Europe, Mexico and the U.S. He has also been featured on New York’s WQXR classical radio, the long running “Performance Today” classical program, and a variety of NPR radio stations.
Crediting his first exposure to classical music to his Italian grandfather’s love of the Three Tenors, Broberg began piano lessons on his family’s upright piano at age six. During his childhood in Minneapolis, he began studying piano with Dr. Joseph Zins at Crocus Hill Studios in Saint Paul. Throughout high school, he balanced his musical lessons with playing baseball and hockey. He remains an avid fan of both the Minnesota Twins and Wild and checks their scores while on breaks during his practice.
In 2023 Broberg released his debut solo album, Sonatas by Medtner, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, on the Steinway & Sons label.
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