Tackling Tchaikovsky

Pianist Teresa De Jong-Pombo and conductor Ricardo Soto will team up to perform two of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s greatest compositions Saturday at OCC.

The concert, entitled “An Evening of Tchaikovsky,” will feature Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with De Jong-Pombo as the soloist, as well as the Russian composer’s Fifth Symphony.

Both artists agree the music has universal appeal and will be enjoyable and recognizable to neophytes and experts alike.

“This piano concerto is literally some of the greatest music ever written,” De Jong-Pombo says. “People might not be familiar with the title, but when they hear it they’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, I know that piece.’”

After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at USC, De Jong-Pombo studied in Vienna on a Fulbright Scholarship, returning to California in 1988.

She first played the Tchaikovsky concerto with the OCC orchestra more than a decade ago and continues to bring it back every few years, despite its extreme technical difficulty.

“I love the passion and fire in it, the brilliance and virtuosity, the sensitivity and romanticism,” she says.

While De Jong-Pombo is not playing flashy romantic concert repertoire, she is busy raising her three young kids.

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is known for being filled with optimism and triumph. It found worldwide popularity in difficult times during World War II when many classical recordings were made.

Soto says the exciting orchestration and lush melodies of the piece will make it appealing to all audiences and that he is very confident in the OCC orchestra’s ability to impress.

“We have a very fine music department at OCC,” Soto says.

“I never have to apologize to anyone for it being a community college orchestra. People just say, ‘Wow, that was great.’ ”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “An Evening of Tchaikovsky”

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: OCC’s Robert B. Moore Theater on the corner of Fairview Road and Merrimac Way

COST: Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance from occtickets.com or (714) 432-5880 or at the door

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.