Yoon-Wha Roh Delights Audience with ‘Beethoven’s Emperor’ Concerto

The Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra hosted internationally-acclaimed concert pianist and piano professor, Yoon-Wha Roh for the 2023-2024 season opening concert on September 30, 2023. Yoon-Wha, or better known by her students and friends as Yuna, performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, known as “Emperor.”

Roh has appeared as a celebrated soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Seoul National Symphony Orchestra and New York Classical Symphony Orchestra among others. She has also won awards and prizes from numerous competitions. For a full bio on Roh, click here.

She performed alongside the symphony for a dazzling display of skillful piano playing with emotion, vigor and power. Her elegant touch made the concerto come alive and fill the auditorium with “dessert for our ears” as she played 40 minutes of memorized music in the second half of the concert.

The first half of the concert was also a masterful display of music excellence as the symphony performed the overture to “Barber of Seville” by Rossini, “Capriccio Espagnole” by Rimsky-Korsakov and the finale to the “William Tell Overture” also by Rossini.

For the first time ever, the Coeur d’Alene Symphony presented video alongside the “William Tell Overture” including black and white b-roll from old cowboy films. Video and other multimedia is something you can expect to see in future concerts this season as visuals and sound are becoming a popular trend in symphonies across the U.S.

The Coeur d’Alene Symphony’s next concert, “Holiday Magic” is December 2, 2023. It will be held at Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall at North Idaho College. To purchase tickets, head over to the ticketing tab on this website.