100% of Gross Proceeds from the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s Concluding Concert to Benefit Children with Disabilities in Ukraine

The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO), under the direction of Conductor Benjamin Zander, concludes its 10th anniversary season on Friday, May 6, 2022, at 8:00 PM at Symphony Hall in Boston, with a benefit concert to support families of children with disabilities and those in contact zones in Ukraine. A hundred percent of the gross proceeds from ticket sales will support the Bright Kids Charity’s No Child Forgotten Fund which assists some of Ukraine's most vulnerable children suffering from Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The evening’s program includes Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring New England Conservatory piano faculty member Alexander Korsantia as soloist, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique. The concert will also be available for viewing via live streaming; a recorded version can also be accessed after the concert.

Originally from the country of Georgia, Alexander Korsantia’s performances—alone, with orchestra, and in chamber music—have garnered accolades around the world, and the list of conductors he has worked with is a veritable Who’s Who. Critics worldwide have commented on his perfect technique and extraordinarily burnished tone. Korsantia’s previous performance of the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra earned critical acclaim. “…throughout, from the fiery first movement to the haunting third, he played with the sensitivity of a chamber musician,” according to the Boston Classical Review.

According to Conductor Benjamin Zander, “The Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto is one of the hardest and most exhilarating in the repertory, and will, for many, be a dazzling introduction to this major musician, who we are fortunate to have as a resident of Boston. He has a uniquely personal vision of everything he plays; there is never a note without a deeper intent behind it.”

Tickets are $60, $40, and $20; $10 for students with code STU-DIS. Tickets to the live stream are $20 for general admission, $10 for students, and $40 for supporters. Concertgoers may also make additional donations to the cause during checkout. Tickets are available at www.bostonphil.org or by calling 617-236-0999. Ticket policies are at www.bostonphil.org/concerts/ticket-policies; find coronavirus updates at www.bostonphil.org/concerts/experience/virus.

About the Boston Philharmonic

Founded by Benjamin Zander in 1979, the Boston Philharmonic is composed of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO), and its robust series of Crescendo Education and Community Engagement programs. Its mission is to share the vibrancy of classical music with new and existing audiences, aspiring to expand the limits of possibility to reinvigorate the classical music experience for audiences and players alike.

As one of Boston’s premier orchestras and under the leadership of Maestro Benjamin Zander, the BPO features professional, student and amateur musicians who perform inspiring renditions of celebrated masterworks in Boston’s most storied concert halls. The BPYO offers year-long, tuition-free orchestral and leadership training at the highest level for talented musicians between the ages of 12 and 21. The Crescendo Education and Community Engagement programs provide high quality music education for children who would otherwise not have access, often serving the most disadvantaged, at-risk, and under-resourced children in the city.

About Benjamin Zander

For more than 50 years, Benjamin Zander has occupied a unique place as a master teacher, a deeply insightful and probing interpreter, and a profound source of inspiration for audiences, as well as students, professional musicians, corporate leaders, politicians, and more. He has persistently engaged some of the most well-informed musical and public intellectuals in a quest for insight and understanding into the Western musical canon and the underlying religious, social, and political issues that inspired its creation.

For more than 25 years, Zander has also enjoyed a unique relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra, recording a series of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies. High Fidelity named the recording of Mahler’s 6^th as Best Classical Recording of 2002; the 3^rd was awarded Critic’s Choice by the German Record Critics; and Mahler 9^th and 2^nd and Bruckner’s 5^th recordings were all nominated for Grammy Awards.

Zander enjoys an international career as a leadership speaker, with several keynote speeches at the World Economic Forum in Davos and at TED. His best-selling book, The Art of Possibility, co-authored with his former wife, and leading psychotherapist Rosamund Zander, has been translated into eighteen languages.