THE ENIGMATIC ELGAR! The Ohio Valley Symphony

March 16, 2024
at 7:30 p.m.
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British composer Edward Elgar’s music will be featured when the Cincinnati Symphony’s principal cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn joins Maestro François López-Ferrer and the OVS for the Cello Concerto, Op. 36. Paired with that is Elgar’s Enigma Variations which continues to capture music lovers attention with its haunting melodies and wistful musical descriptions of his friends for each of the 14 movements.

François López-Ferrer, conductor
Spanish-American conductor François López-Ferrer currently serves as Resident Conductor of the Académie of the Opéra de Paris. Former Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and May Festival, and a 2021-22’ Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, López-Ferrer stepped in for Louis Langrée with the CSO in January of 2022 for the US premiere of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti to great critical acclaim.

This season López-Ferrer has made brilliant debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Opéra de Lausanne, Orquesta deValencia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Sinfónica Radio Televisión Española, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, and Pasadena Symphony, and was featured in the 2022 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He previously served as Associate Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile and Principal Conductor of the Ballet Nacional Chileno.

Upcoming highlights include debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and Tucson Symphony, as well as return engagements to the Orquesta Sinfónica Radio Televisión Española, Pasadena Symphony, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile.

An inaugural apprentice of the Verbier Festival’s 2018 Conductor Mentorship Program, López-Ferrer made a last-minute critically-acclaimed debut with the Verbier Festival Orchestra jumping in for Iván Fischer in a shared program with Sir Simon Rattle and Gábor Takács-Nagy. He was recipient of a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., winner of the inaugural 2015 Neeme Järvi Prize awarded at the Menuhin-Gstaad Festival, and a previous member of the Deutsche Dirigentenforum.

López-Ferrer holds a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne and a bachelor’s in Composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Ilya Finkelshteyn, cello
Ilya Finkelshteyn was praised by the Washington Post as a “complete master of his instrument,” and has performed throughout the United State, Canada, Europe and Japan. He has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, Mostly Mozart and many other world class orchestras, including the National Repertory Orchestra. He is a prize winner of numerous competitions including the Concertino Praga, Russian Cello Competition, the WAMSO International Competition, Aspen Concerto Competition, and Chautauqua Concerto Competition.

As a winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, Ilya was a soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra on its tours to France and Bermuda.

Currently Ilya is principal cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and prior to that he was principal cellist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Cello at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He started his education at the Special Music School at the St. Petersburg Conservatory before immigrating to the United States where he studied at the University of Minnesota and the Julliard School.

Ilya plays a cello by Domenico Montagnana circa 1730 courtesy of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  He actively maintains a YouTube channel which includes performance videos of his own musical adaptations, @IlyaFinkelshteyn.

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