The Elkhart County Symphony Presents Slavic Masterworks

Ms. Witte, a Juilliard-trained pianist currently residing in Indianapolis, has presented in such lauded venues as Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, Steinway Hall, and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival. Acclaimed as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, and chamber musician, she has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia and has appeared as a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Music Academy of the West, and Juilliard Orchestras. 

Slavic Masterworks begins on Nov. 17 with a pre-concert conversation with Ms. Witte and Elkhart Symphony Musical Director Dr. Soo Han at 3 p.m. Concert performances begin at 4.

“Our season opener was one for the ages, and we are thankful to the Elkhart County community for helping us start our season with such great energy,” said John Hill, Elkhart Symphony Co-Executive Director. “Having more than 400 people at an outdoor season premiere is a fantastic achievement, but I can’t say that it is a surprise. Under the leadership of Dr. Soo Han we’ve been building as an orchestra for several years, and we’ve put together another wonderful program for our 2024-25 campaign. Slavic Masterworks—featuring acclaimed, Indianapolis pianist Minju Choi Witte as guest soloist—presents a challenging and dynamic repertoire, and we look forward to welcoming music lovers from throughout Elkhart County and the entire region.”

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op. 18 is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed between June 1900 and April 1901. One of his most enduring an popular works, the piece established Rachmaninoff’s fame as a concerto composer and helped him overcome the disappointment of his ill-fated 1897 First Symphony premiere—which spiraled the Russian composer into a depression that prevented him from writing music for three years.

From summer to autumn of 1900 Rachmaninoff worked on the concerto’s second and third movements before backtracking to complete the challenging first movement. The complete work had a successful premiere in Moscow on Nov. 9, 1901 with Rachmaninoff as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting. The 37-minute concerto debuted at the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 3 and 4 in 1908, with Max Fiedler conducting and Ossip Gabrilowitsch as soloist.

Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1889 on the occasion of the Czech composer’s election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature, and Arts. An intended departure from the composer’s previous work, and in contrast to other compositions from the period, Symphony No. 8 in G Major—originally published as Symphony No. 4—is renowned for its bright, cheerful, and optimistic musical tone. The work, thought to draw inspiration from Dvořák’s love for Bohemian folk music and the Czech countryside, premiered in Prague on Feb. 2, 1890.

Minju Choi Witte has performed in cities around the world—including Paris, New York City, Burgundy, Philadelphia, and Chicago. She has been heard as a soloist and chamber musician in live and recorded performances on radio stations around the country, and was a featured artist at the Vancouver Recital Society’s Chamber Music Festival, for which her performances were broadcast on CBC Radio.  

Boundless, Ms. Witte’s 2018 solo debut album (Navona Records), features music by Philip Lasser, Gabriela Lena Frank, and a commissioned work by Ching-chu Hu. The album was featured in Gramophone Magazine and has been performed on radio stations in New York, Washington, Canada, and Croatia. A committed educator and arts advocate—and a former member of the Indiana Arts Commission’s Strategic Planning Committee—Ms. Witte was also featured on the 2022 album Passages (Navona) as a chamber musician, and has worked with composers such as Derek Bermel, Joel Hoffman, and Grammy Award-winner William Bolcom. 

“Minju Choi Witte is a former first prize winner at the Nena Wideman International Piano Competition and the Juilliard Concerto Competition, and others, and she is a fantastic pianist and educator,” said Dr. Soo Han. “Her own accolades aside, Minju has instructed many students who have gone on to win top awards as well, and that is the mark of a special type of person and musician. We are honored to welcome Ms. Witte for Slavic Masterworks, and we look forward to performing with her inside Elkhart’s beautiful Lerner Theatre.” 

Single-concert tickets for Slavic Masterworks, along with four-concert season packages, can be purchased by visiting The Lerner Theatre Box Office or by calling the Box Office at (574) 293-4469.