The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra will head to southern Taiwan for two concerts in December featuring early, middle, and late Romantic period masterpieces – 'Jaap van Zweden, Ji-yoon Park & ESO: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.' The performances will take place on December 12 at Kaohsiung Weiwuying Concert Hall and December 13 at Pingtung Performing Arts Center. ESO's Artist-in-Residence Jaap van Zweden will collaborate with Korean violinist Ji-yoon Park, concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, to present a captivating year-end musical feast.

The concert will open with the “William Tell” Overture, from the Italian master Rossini’s final operatic work. Not only was the opera widely acclaimed at its 1829 premiere, but it continues to be performed regularly almost 200 years later. The overture is divided into four sections: 'Prelude: Dawn,' 'Storm,' 'Ranz des vaches,' and 'Finale: March of the Swiss Soldiers.' 
Following this overture will be the romantic Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. As one of this German composer’s most important works, the concerto is considered a cornerstone of the violin repertoire. The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra has invited Ji-yoon Park, laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and current concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as its special guest soloist. Through her refined and masterful technique, she will interpret this piece and allow audiences to experience the harmonious balance between technical prowess and emotional expression.
 

The second half of the concert invites listeners to immerse themselves in the tranquil warmth of romantic sentiment, with Maestro van Zweden conducting Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73. This accessible work, also known as the “Pastorale”Symphony for its bright and bucolic nature, is a masterpiece that the German composer Brahms completed in just three months while vacationing in the Austrian countryside.  The work’s cheerful and lyrical mood is reminiscent of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, also known as the “Pastoral.” 
These concerts present timeless masterpieces representing three periods of the Romantic era by three masters with distinctly different styles: the passionate fervor of Rossini's “William Tell” Overture,  the lyrical beauty of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, and the serene tranquility of Brahms' Symphony No. 2 in D major. The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra invites fans to join this retrospective journey through the Romantic era as the year draws to a close.

For ticket information, please visit the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra's official website or the OPENTIX National Theater & Concert Hall ticketing system.