The Ghent University Symphony Orchestra (GUSO), in collaboration with the United Nations University (UNU-CRIS), invites you to celebrate their respective 20th and 25th anniversaries, featuring soloist Nikola Meeuwsen, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2025.
The concert on 4 May starts promptly at 8 pm. Doors open at 7.30 pm.
Programme:
- Overture to The Russian Easter Festival, Op. 36 — Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 — Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 — Jean Sibelius
The concert opens festively – in keeping with both anniversaries – with the Overture to The Russian Easter Festival, written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Traditionally, Easter is regarded as the ‘radiant’ or ‘light’ festival, referring to the victory of light over darkness.
With soloist Nikola Meeuwsen, you will then discover the renewed light that Rachmaninov found thanks to the success of his Second Piano Concerto, dedicated to his neurologist Nikolai Dahl, who helped him overcome his depression.
Finally, you will enjoy the brilliance and clear sound of Jean Sibelius’s Second Symphony.