Under the baton of Elias Grandy, QPO welcomes James Zijian Wei, winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, for one of the most electrifying works in the repertoire: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Famous for its power and sheer virtuosity, it pairs towering piano writing with an orchestra in full bloom, intimate one moment, thunderous the next.

After the interval, the mood shifts to Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen Suite; bright, lyrical music drawn from his beloved opera, full of color, rustic dance energy, and flashes of tenderness, an ideal counterpart to Rachmaninoff’s intensity.