When you become the Music Director and Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony, that's pretty special. And, when you get to conduct the symphony with Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 with a guest pianist, that is special too. But, when the guest pianist is your mother, well, that's the icing on this special cake!

Grand Rapids Symphony Music Director Marcelo Lehninger grew up in Brazil in a musical family. His father, German-born violinist Erich Lehninger, was concertmaster of the Sao Paulo Symphony. His mother, Brazilian-born pianist Sônia Goulart, was a prominent piano soloist and teacher. Just weeks before Marcelo was born in October 1979, the final piece his mother performed in public was Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Flash forward 40-years, and the final concert of the Grand Rapids Symphony’s 2018-19 season welcomes Goulart to DeVos Performance Hall to play Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor.

Marcelo will be nearby, too. But this time, he’ll be on the podium with the concerts at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 17-18.

Marcelo Lehninger, who is wrapping up his third season at the helm of the Grand Rapids Symphony, grew up playing both violin and piano. Over time, violin gave way to piano, and piano gave way to conducting.

.Tickets for the Richard and Helen DeVos Classical series start at $18 and are available at the Grand Rapids Symphony box office, weekdays 9 am - 5 pm at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across the street from Calder Plaza). Call (616) 454-9451 x 4 to order by phone. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum).

 

 

 

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