Watch Joel Fan perform Gershwin’s Concerto in F

Joel Fan was recently invited to the Ukraine to perform George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with the Lviv Philharmonic Symphony, conducted by Benjamin Loeb. And it turns out there’s a deeper connection uniting Ukrainians and Americans which goes beyond the beauty and majesty of Gershwin’s music.

George Gershwin was born in New York to a family of Jewish immigrants, and one of his grandparents came from Odessa, Ukraine. He grew up hearing the beauty of Ukrainian tunes and lullabies sung at home and performed by the Ukrainian National Choir in New York. Gershwin’s song Summertime – composed for his opera Porgy and Bess – was based on one of those tunes, as were other works that became popular all over the world. And therein lies the special connection between George Gershwin and the Ukraine.

The Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra has existed for more than two centuries, and has given performed under such guest conductors as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. It is one of the largest orchestras in Ukraine, touring tours in such European countries as Poland, Italy,  Spain,  France,  Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

American Public Media’s Performance Today is America’s most popular classical music radio program. It is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations and NPR affiliates across the country featuring live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else.

You can listen to Joel Fan performing Gershwin’s Concerto in F in the first half of Hour 1 of the Performance Today broadcast, at the following link:

https://www.yourclassical.org/programs/performance-today/episodes/2020/06/16

Or watch the live video of Joel’s performance of Gershwin’s Concerto here: