5, 4, 3, BEETHOVEN!

FEBRUARY 13-14, 2026 @ 7:30 PM

FEBRUARY 15, 2026 @ 2:00 PM

WEATHERWAX HALL

Section A: $40
Section B: $35
Section C: $25
Student Tickets: $5

Single Tickets on sale September 1, 2025

Celebrate love and the enduring brilliance of Beethoven with a performance filled with passion and triumph. This program, featuring pianist Evren Ozel, highlights the lyrical beauty of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, a masterpiece full of elegance and warmth. The performance opens with the dramatic Leonore Overture No. 3, a story of courage and devotion, and concludes with the iconic Symphony No. 5, rounding out a journey where struggle meets victory in a symphony of resilience and inspiration.

PRE-CONCERT CONVERSATION
Join us for a free, interactive lecture before the concert at 6:30pm.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Ludwig van Beethoven
Leonore Overture No.3, op.72b <1805–1806>

Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto, Piano, No.4 in G major, op.58 <1805–1806>

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No.5 in C minor, op.67 <1807–1808>

RUNTIME: 1H 45M

AFTERPARTY

Location: Willis & Machnik Financial Services

Sponsored by Willis & Machnik Financial Services

Keep the celebration going after the baton is down and the instruments are put away. Taking place in various locations around Jackson following Saturday evening concerts, these events are a great opportunity to mingle with musicians, guest artists, composers, other symphony fans, and of course, the Maestro. All are welcome at this event and the $20 ticket buys you entry, hors d’oeuvres, and drinks.

GUEST ARTIST

Evren Ozel
Piano

American pianist Evren Ozel has established himself as a musician of “refined restraint” (Third Coast Review), combining fluent virtuosity with probing, thoughtful interpretations. Having performed extensively in the United States and abroad, Evren is the recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and is currently represented by Concert Artists Guild as an Ambassador Prize Winner of their 2021 Victor Elmaleh Competition.

Since his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at age 11, Ozel has been a featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and The Orchestra Now at Bard College, with conductors Jahja Ling, Ruth Reinhardt, Courtney Lewis, and Leon Botstein. In March of 2025, his first album of Mozart Concertos with the ORF Radio Symphony of Vienna and conductor Howard Griffiths will be released on Alpha Classics.

Ozel’s 2024-25 season highlights include solo recitals for La Jolla Music Society, Capital Region Classical, and Cal Performances. Previously, he has performed recitals for Harvard Musical Association, Schubert Club, Chopin Society of Minnesota, and The Gilmore. Carrying a vast and varied recital repertoire, his 2023-24 season included a program ranging from Bach and Rameau to Ligeti, as well as a program of Beethoven’s last three Piano Sonatas.

An esteemed chamber musician, Ozel performs alongside artists like David Finckel and Wu Han, Stella Chen, Zlatomir Fung, Paul Huang, and Peter Wiley. He spent four summers at the Marlboro Festival, and is currently a 2024-27 Bowers Program Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His 2024-25 season includes a tour with Musicians from Marlboro, as well as CMS concerts at Alice Tully Hall.

Ozel resides in Boston, where he is currently a candidate in New England Conservatory’s prestigious and highly-exclusive Artist Diploma program, under the tutelage of Wha Kyung Byun. Other important mentors include Jonathan Biss, Imogen Cooper, Richard Goode, Andras Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida.