International acclaimed concert pianist, Markus Groh, will perform this weekend at the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra’s seventh seasonal concert to be held at San José’s National Theater.

The concert will include music by Strauss, Haydn and Brahms for two performances – Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. – under the direction of the orchestra’s lead conductor, Carl St. Clair.

Groh, who has performed with the symphony orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC National Orchestra, Beijing, Helsinki and the London Symphony Orchestra, will perform the Concerto No. 1 for piano in D minor, by the German composer Johannes Brahms, said Danny León González at the National Symphony Orchestra press office.

Groh “gained immediate world attention after winning the prestigious Queen Elizabeth International Competition in Brussels in 1995, the first German to do so. Other awards include First Prize at the 1990 Artur Schnabel Competition in Berlin,” according to his biography on the Bach cantatas website.

This spectacular concert will also feature the Serenade for 13 wind instruments in E flat major, Op. 7 by the Richard Strauss, and the Symphony 88 in G major by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn.

“The Brahms piano concerto … is a monumental work for both piano and orchestra. For us as musicians it is … demanding to play the music of this great composer. In addition to this we will play one of the symphonies of Joseph Haydn, which in this case is a very difficult piece to play, very delicate, but at the same time it is a beautiful work to listen to,” said José Aurelio Castillo, the symphony orchestra’s concertmaster.

Costa Rica’s superb national orchestra continues to attract talented soloists from around the world, and this concert is no exception.

As described by the Bach Cantata website, “A spellbinding recitalist, Markus Groh reveals shapes, textures and colors that one seldom hears in live performance. Critics agree: ‘Groh is a great pianist.’ [Toronto Star]; ‘…a superb recital…’ [New York Times]; ‘A new star in the pianistic firmament…’ [Neue Zürcher Zeitung].”