Paul Jacobs‘ season has been shaped by the Christopher Rouse Organ Concerto, which he premiered with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin on November 17 last year, and has continued performing this spring with dates at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Philharmonic led by David Robertson at the end of April, and at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony led by Gustavo Gimeno last week. While in LA, the New York Times streamed an interview and a performance with Paul. If you missed it, please enjoy the recorded stream here. January was spent performing Michael Daugherty’s Once Upon A Castle Symphonie Concertante for organ and orchestra, and other repertoire with the Toledo Symphony.
Coming up, Jacobs returns to the Oregon Bach Festival as director and teacher of the Organ Institute there in July and gives a recital on July 6. Another highlight of summer is his performance of Lou Harrison’s Organ Concerto for the centennial celebration of Lou Harrison at the Toledo Museum of Art on August 12.
Soyeon Kate Lee had a year full of orchestral performances, playing Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the Erie Philharmonic led by Daniel Meyer in January and later with the Eugene Symphony in March. She also performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Asheville Symphony with Daniel Meyer as well. In August, Lee joins the Gijon festival in Spain and gives a recital on August 23.
Ran Dank has given both orchestral and recital concerts so far this year, starting with the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Toledo Symphony in March, recitals at Bargemusic in April, and a stunning performance of Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for the University of Chicago Presents.
“…Ran Dank made a spectacular Chicago debut at Mandel Hall. The Israeli pianist delivered a powerhouse performance of Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! that was as dazzling in its pyrotechnics as it was expressive and insightful…Ran Dank’s performance was so remarkable and complete in every way, it’s hard to believe anyone else could have done better.”
Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colón invited pianist and conductor Marino Formenti for a month-long residency which took place this past March. Unable to decide which of the suggested projects to present, the artistic direction invited Marino to mount all three of his current ground-breaking projects in various locations of the newly refurbished and designed Theater. “Nowhere” (an intimate performance in which he plays piano in a public space, exploring a broad range of repertoire as the audience explores the space from any vantage they wish) took place in the Centro de Experimentación, the Sala del CETC from 10am to 10pm for six straight days; “Time to Gather” (an on stage concurrence between Marino Formenti and spectator, who decide what he will play next) was held in the main hall of the Teatro Colón and “One to One” (a musical encounter of two to 10 hours for one spectator at a time) happened in various casual locations.
A taste of “Nowhere” at Teatro Colón
Immediately after the March residency, Marino traveled from Buenos Aires for another week of “Nowhere” in a specially designed installation at the Gulbenkian Foundation during the arts biennial BoCA in Lisbon, Portugal. Enjoy the following videos of the building of the space and discussion with the artist, Ricardo Jacinto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC_ZzVpqBtU
Enjoy the recorded stream of Formenti discussing “Nowhere” in Lisbon, here.
Michael Stern, conductor. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
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May 5-7, with his home orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern leads the Britten War Requiem with fellow Colbert Artists soprano Christine Brewer and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey in commemoration of the United State’s entry into World War I. (Kansas City is home to the National World War I Museum and Memorial.) May and June highlights include Mozart Piano Concertos with Emanuel Ax in Kansas City, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma.
In March, Stern led the highly anticipated world premiere performance of Einojunahi Rautavaara’s “Fantasia” with fellow Colbert Artist, Anne Akiko Meyers and the Kansas City Symphony.
Earlier in March, Stern led a subscription week with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Marc-André Hamelin (another Colbert Artist!), in nights of Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Medtner’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
“Under Stern’s impassioned baton, the orchestra produced teeth-rattling forte passages in the fifth movement, which turned abruptly into complete silence. The juxtaposition, which was exaggerated by Stern, emphasized Tchaikovsky’s wittiness.” – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 10, 2017
Stern led a round of several different programs with the National Symphony. and Joshua Bell in Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, and the premiere of Anne Dudley’s The Man With The Violin.
In January, Stern spent two weeks in Guangzhou as Music Director of the Youth Music Culture Guangdong, alongside Artistic Director Yo-Yo Ma, and then returned to the US to lead the Kansas City Symphony in a program of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.
Jayce Ogren, conductor. Photo by Rebecca Fay.
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Jayce Ogren wrapped 2016 leading his home organization, Philadelphia’s Orchestra 2001, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky in November. He kicked off the New Year at Casa de Musica in Portugal, leading the film score for Charlie Chaplin’s classic, City Lights, before returning to Orchestra 2001 to lead music by David Lang, Bryce Dessner, Peter Maxwell Davies. He then debuted with Filarmonica de Jalisco (Mexico) in Corigliano and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” In April, Ogren appeared at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust and led Orchestra 2001 in performances of John Luther Adams’s immersive outdoor work, Inuksuit .
“…Ogren’s reading was superb. From a restful tempo and impeccable phrasing, the young American director avoided the easy route to be taken away by the charm of the melodies, especially in the most brilliant passages, and got a deep interpretation, as corresponds to the music ‘absolutely Bohemia’ that Dvorak decided to portray. … This was one of the best Dvorak 9’s in the history of the OFJ.” – Jaime García Alías, Informador, March 18, 2017
Ogren led Orchestra 2001 in a program of “Pocket Symphonies” on April 23. Looking forward, he records Bernstein’s West Side Story (a work he has led in notable international dates) in Nashville; returns to the Indianapolis Symphony, leading Mason Bates’s Liquid Interface, a piece for electronica and orchestra, on May 20 as part of the orchestra’s INFusion Festival; leading the Wordless Music Orchestra in the film score of Jackie in LA on June 3; returning to the Philharmonie de Paris to lead Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna on June 10; and leading the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa in an all-Rufus Wainwright program (with Wainwright joining the performance) for Canada Scene, a festival celebrating Canadian artists.
Ken-David Masur, conductor. Photo by Beth Ross Buckley.
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This May, Maestro Ken-David Masur leads the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (his debut with that organization) in works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn at Symphony Center on May 8. In June he oversees the Chelsea Music Festival, of which he is music director, alongside his wife, Melinda Lee Masur. July and August finds him at Tanglewood, leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra on July 23 and the Boston University of Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Orchestra on August 12. On September 5 he returns to the Hollywood Bowl, leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Inon Barnatan in an LA Phil commission, a new piano concerto from Alan Fletcher. Also on the program are Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”.
After leading orchestras in Germany, Korea, and Russia, and in North America with the New England Conservatory of Music and the Boston University Symphony, 2017 began with Masur leading a subscription week with the Boston Symphony Orchestra featuring concertos by Vivaldi, Krommer, Jolivet, Rota, and Schumann, followed by a night leading the Orchestre National de France with Anne-Sophie Mutter in an homage to his late father. Ken just led the Omaha Symphony this month in a program of Strauss, Mozart, and Mendelssohn.
“Masur was charming as a conductor. His natural enthusiasm came across as expressive and familiar. His skill and connection with the orchestra were evident.” – Omaha World Herald, April 8, 2017
Jacques Lacombe, conductor. Photo by Philippe Champoux.
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Principal Conductor of the Bonn Opera in Germany, Jacques Lacombe led the company in La Bohème and Tristan & Isolde throughout September, October, and November of 2016. This season has also seen Lacombe leading productions of Die Fledermaus at Opera de Marseille, La Juive at the Opera National du Rhin, and four performances of Faust at Deutsche Oper Berlin in February and March.
Lacombe looks forward to leading Peter Grimes and Tosca at Theater Bonn, May through July, as well as a range of concerts with the Orchestra Symphonique de Trois-Rivières.
April 27-May 12, Maestro Bernhard Gueller leads his orchestra Symphony Nova Scotia in its annual Festival, focusing on European Masterworks, including the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Brahms Symphony No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Marc-André Hamelin!), and Beethoven Symphony No. 9. Gueller explains the programming in this video.
This Summer (or rather, this Winter), Gueller returns to the Cape Town Philharmonic, where he is Principal Guest Conductor, leading the CPO in its Winter Symphony Season, exploring works by Brahms, Franck, Gershwin, Prokofiev, and others.
In the Fall, Gueller returns for his final season as Music Director of the Symphony Nova Scotia, leading a season opener of Dvorák, Brahms and Canadian composer Alexina Louie. Other notable concerts include the Cherubini Requiem with the RAM Koor, the Estonian National Male Choir.
Now Booking Tales of Two Cities: February 26 – March 10, 2019
Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House is the latest multi-media creation from Alison Mackay, who conceived and programmed their most recent J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation as well as House of Dreams and The Galileo Project. Mackay’s latest musical time-travel project takes the audience to the year 1740, when coffee houses were important cultural and social hubs in both the famous trading centers of Leipzig, and in one of the oldest cities in the world, Damascus. Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House is performed in a theatrical setting recreating two wooden-paneled interiors which transform from a coffeehouse in Syria to one in Leipzig.
Program to include works by Telemann, Monteverdi, Handel, Lully, and Bach interwoven with classical arabic music performed by guest ensemble Trio Arabica and 2 actor narrators.
“There was plenty of music, echoing and augmenting the spirit of the text. Particularly lovely: a propulsive bassoon line under playful oboes in the overture to Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major and the finale, Sinfonia (“Praise the Lord in his riches”) which was suffused with radiant joy.”
– Matthew J. Palm, ORLANDO SENTINEL, March 7, 2017
“Tafelmusik was a superb ensemble with a generous sound not found in many baroque orchestras. Musical selections ran the gamut from orchestral pieces to solos for cello, violin, or harpsichord. Often baroque music concerts suffer from textural monotony, but Tafelmusik’s timbral variety was pleasant and well-conceived.”
– Christian Hertzog, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, March 12, 2017 Welcoming Elisa Citterio to the Tafel family
Elisa Citterio, Music Director Designate. Photographer: Monica Cordiviola
Tafelmusik is excited to announce the appointment of Elisa Citterio to be Tafelmusik’s new Music Director. Elisa immediately becomes Music Director, assuming her role in July 2017. She will open the 2017/18 season with a celebratory program at Koerner Hall.
Renowned for stunning virtuoso performances on baroque violin and for her innovative approach to period performance, Elisa has recorded and toured, often as concertmaster, with many renowned ensembles. These include Europa Galante, Accademia Bizantina, and Il Giardino Armonico, and she has collaborated with some of the foremost period instrumentalists of our time. Since 2000 she has been concertmaster of the Accademia della Scala, and since 2004 has been a member of the orchestra of La Scala, Milan, working with conductors such as Daniele Gatti and Riccardo Muti.
![Bernhard Gueller photo by Scott Blackburn [cropped]](https://colbertartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gueller_Scott-Blackburn_001_crop2.jpg)
