One of the festival’s highlights will be Canadian pianist Louis Lortie’s appearance with an all-Chopin program. Mr. Lortie’s highly acclaimed integral recording of Chopin’s works on the Chandos label secures his rank as an ideal interpreter and true Chopin expert. Widely considered one of the most significant composers for the piano, Chopin’s music fluctuates between exhilarating technical brilliance and deeply moving expression. Interestingly, Chopin preferred performing in smaller venues, leading him to make several arrangements of many of his works. The featured work of this concert is his own arrangement of his first piano concerto for piano and string quintet. In fact, he himself performed this version more often than the version for full orchestra!