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Last week Marc-André Hamelinperformed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, with a program featuring works by Mozart, Ravel, Busoni, himself, and Liszt.

“Mr. Hamelin, having spent much of his early career exploring pianistic showpieces on the fringes of the repertory, has a commanding technique. But there was no sense of slumming or condescension. As in his brilliant recordings of Haydn sonatas for Hyperion, Mr. Hamelin approached the relative simplicities [of Mozart’s Sonata in C Major, K.545]  with warmth and affection.
From there, he upped the ante repeatedly… Much the same could be said of Liszt’s punishing B minor Sonata. Mr. Hamelin, summoning tremendous power, played it magisterially, without ever losing sight of the fine thread connecting its various episodes.”
– James R. Oestreich, The New York Times, Jan. 21, 2016

Maestro Michael Stern ended his 2015 leading concerts with IRIS Orchestra, and began this year with Midori in concerts with both the Kansas City Symphony and IRIS!

This week Stern leads the KCSO and Jeremy Denk in concerts of Beethoven, Sibelius, and Scriabin and looking forward he leads dates with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Curtis Symphony at the Kimmel Center, and the Israel Philharmonic.

Conductor Jayce Ogren led December and January dates with the Utah Symphony and Colorado Symphony. Looking forward, Ogren leads the Dallas Symphony in special screenings of Bernstein’s West Side Story (a production he’s led with internationally and in the US with the Pittsburgh Symphony); dates with the Edmonton Symphony; and in June, Ogren leads the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the world premiere of Jack Perla & Rajiv Joseph’s “Shalimar the Clown,” based on a novel by Salman Rushdie.

And in April Ogren runs the Boston Marathon, continuing an impressive string of races and triathlons.

Maestro Daniel Meyer wrapped up 2015 with a slate of diverse performances, including concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony (both holiday programs and a special performance of the music of Star Wars, see below) and a return to the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna (with a program of works by Pleyel, Osvaldo Golijov, and Schumann), as well as concerts with his home orchestras in Erie and Asheville. And Meyer began the New Year with a specially-designed program with the Southwest Florida Symphony.

Conductor Ken-David Masur enjoyed an international end to 2015, a year anchored by three subscription weeks with the Boston Symphony (where he is Assistant Conductor).

World-wide dates included programs of Grieg, Vaughan Williams, Ravel, and Respighi with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong; works by Weber, Schumann and Wagner with the Munich Symphony; and two programs (of Bartók, Kodály, Dvorák, and Schumann and Saint-Saëns) in Moscow with the National Philharmonic of Russia, where he returns in March 2016.

Maestro Jacques Lacombe began the year in Canada, leading a program of Paganini, Tchaikovsky and Coulthard with the Edmonton Symphony and this week leads his home orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, in their annual Winter Festival, focusing this year on themes of Shakespeare.

Lacombe’s upcoming dates include a subscription week featuring works by Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Berlioz with the Montreal Symphony; French Masterpieces with the Omaha Symphony, and a program of Prokofiev and Wagner with the Quebec Symphony.

He also returns to Tanglewood in 2016 – his third season in a row – leading the Boston Symphony in their opening weekend, including works by Ravel, Prokofiev, Carmina Burana, and the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 with Joshua Bell.

In December, Lacombe was joined by Dashon Burton and Celena Shafer for performances of Handel’s Messiah with the New Jersey Symphony:

“Dashon Burton made an immediate impression in Part 1. His deep bass-baritone grabbed the ear and his expert diction made every word of the scriptures come to life …Soprano Celena Shafer uncorked gorgeous top notes….The string section shimmered, and Lacombe kept the balance of voices and instruments just right.” – James C. Taylor, NJ Advance Media, Dec. 22, 2015

Maestro Bernhard Gueller concluded 2015 with a dear musical friend – and a happy tradition for his Symphony Nova Scotia – Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

“I have a very emotional relationship with The Nutcracker’s composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and conducting his works is always a very heartfelt experience for me,” explains Gueller.

These performances marked the 100th time Gueller has led The Nutcracker – truly a deep musical relationship!

This December, pianist Till Fellner joined Bernard Haitink and the Berlin Philharmonic, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 503.

Enjoy this charming interview in German with Fellner and Berlin Philharmonic cellist Knut Weber, in which they discuss the Mozart Concerto – and be sure to watch this video trailer of the concert from the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall.

In April, Fellner returns to North America performing Mozart Concerto in E-flat Major, K. 482 with Haitink and the Chicago Symphony, as well as recitals for the Gilmore and elsewhere.

And looking forward, Fellner will offer the special event of a four-concert Schubert cycle over two seasons – 2017/18 and 2018/19. Before then, he continues to offer mixed programs in 2016/17: Brahms/ Schumann in the fall, and Bach/Liszt/Schubert/Schoenberg in the spring. Please contact us to learn more about the touring dates and program details.