Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi & Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra Presented by Liszt Academy

Instrumental students at the Liszt Academy are also coached for work in an orchestra, with the university’s symphonic ensemble facing the audience in the Masters of the Orchestra series. Over the past few years, several famous conductors have directed the student orchestra, and another legendary musician, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, is on hand once again to oversee the ensemble. Hungarians know the Japanese conductor well because he won the 1st International Conducting Competition of Hungarian Television in 1974, and later he was leader of the Hungarian State Concert Orchestra. This concert boasts two hugely popular symphonies, Beethoven’s fifth and Tchaikovsky’s fourth. Both compositions are associated with the word ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, one of the most recognized works in the classical music repertoire, premiered in 1808. The Tchaikovsky work was finalized exactly 70 years later.