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Pianist Olga Kern is extremely busy these days. Having just finished an east coast recital tour with Renée Fleming, she’s in Austin for her debut performances with the Austin Symphony. She’s the featured soloist in an all-Russian program at the heart of which is her performance of the Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

She stopped by KMFA to talk with Chris Johnson about the piece, her family connection to both Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, and what it’s like being the mother of an equally talented 15 year old pianist.

Olga Kern is playing Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. For information and tickets, please visit their website: http://www.austinsymphony.org

Olga Kern is no stranger to the music of Rachmaninoff. Here she is with the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra during her gold medal winning performance at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition back in 2001.

Photo: Olga Kern by Chris Lee