Cellist Wen-Sinn Yang will be the featured soloist for the second concert of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra this concert season under the baton of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak on Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m., at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater at Circuit Makati. 

For the second concert, dubbed “Italian Night,” the Swiss-born cellist will perform Antonin Dvořák’s “Cello Concerto, op.104, B minor.”  The concert’s program also includes “Sarung Banggi: A Symphonic Serenade by Potenciano Gregorio Sr. (arr. Angel Peña),” and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 4, op.90, A major” (Italian).

“As always, music enthusiasts can expect extensive program repertoire from the PPO’s 39th concert season, dubbed Switch, under the baton of Maestro Nowak. Having the Maestro on our team is a welcome development as we—both the CCP and the PPO—continue to fulfill our mandate to bring artistic excellence to greater heights and utilize arts for the national development,” says CCP president Michelle Nikki Junia.

Enthusiasm for the unknown and constant research distinguishes Wen-Sinn Yang as one of the most versatile cellists of the present day. His performances not only revive the music of 19th-century cello virtuosos such as Adrien François Servais and Karl Yulievich Davydov, but also introduce his audiences to such modern composers as Aribert Reimann and Isang Yun.

Alongside his activities as an internationally renowned soloist under conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Shiao-Chia Lü, Grzegorz Nowak, Daniel Klajner, Yukata Sado, and Michael Hofstetter and with such orchestras as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony, the NHK Tokyo, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Russian State Orchestra of Moscow, Wen-Sinn Yang is also a highly sought-after chamber music partner. His mastery and technical skill are not only strongly expressive but also particularly sensitive, which continues to open up ever-new listening perspectives.

Wen-Sinn Yang’s wide-ranging repertoire is documented on more than 30 CDs.  These include not only the principal works for violoncello by Boccherini, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Saint-Saens, Lalo, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák but also compositions by Henri Vieuxtemps, Frank Martin, Leonid Sabaneev, and Sofia Gubaidulina. Many of these are distinguished as premiere recordings.

Yang has been a professor of Violoncello at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Munich since 2004 and also regularly conducts international master courses.

Maestro Grzegorz Nowak is currently the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director and principal conductor.  He is also a permanent associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, UK.  He was music director of the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, Poland from 2017 to 2020 and other orchestras in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the US. He has conducted orchestral music recorded in over 80 CDs that have received awards and five-star ratings.

Tickets are priced at ₱3,000 (Orchestra Center), ₱2,000 (Orchestra Side), ₱2,500 (Loge Center), ₱1,500 (Loge Side), and ₱800 (Balcony 1). www.culturalcenter.gov.ph