Ensemble ACJW

Performers

• Ensemble ACJW
• David Robertson, Conductor
• Moran Katz, Clarinet

Program

• WAGNER Siegfried Idyll
• LIGETI Chamber Concerto for 13 Instruments
• JOHN ADAMS Gnarly Buttons
• HAYDN Symphony No. 8 in G Major, "Le soir"

Bios

• Ensemble ACJW

  
  Ensemble ACJW is an inspirational collective of outstanding young professional musicians from The Academy that has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for the quality of its performances, as well as its fresh and open-minded approach to performance and programming. In a variety of venues, the ensemble has played a wide range of music-from works written centuries ago to those completed days before-with verve and total commitment to their art.
  
  The group performs its own series at Carnegie Hall and regularly appears at The Juilliard School's Paul Hall. As part of a partnership with Skidmore College that began in 2007, Ensemble ACJW gives master classes to university students and performs for the Saratoga Springs community both in concert halls and in informal settings around town.
  
  All Ensemble ACJW members are alumni or current fellows of The Academy, a two-year fellowship program created in 2007 by Carnegie Hall's Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson and The Juilliard School's President Joseph W. Polisi to support young professional musicians develop their careers as top-quality performers, innovative programmers, and dedicated teachers who are fully engaged with the communities in which they live and work.
  
  Fellows of the two-year Academy program-chosen for their musicianship, but also for their leadership qualities and commitment to music education-come from some of the best music schools in the country, including the Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Mannes College The New School for Music, New England Conservatory, and Yale School of Music.
  
  In addition to performance opportunities at the highest level, a robust program of professional development is an essential part of The Academy. Fellows partner with New York City public schools to share their artistry with-and become central resources for-music classrooms in the five boroughs. In their second year, the fellows take part in community work through the Weill Music Institute's Musical Connections program, in which they perform at multiple nontraditional music venues across New York City. In past years, they participated in community-based group projects, including a collaboration with residents of a Bronx family apartment complex, a pen-pal program that paired young students with professional musicians, and a performance of George Crumb's Voice of the Whale in the American Museum of Natural History's Millstein Hall of Ocean Life.
  
  Exemplary performers, dedicated teachers, and advocates for music throughout the community, the fellows of The Academy that make up Ensemble ACJW are redefining what it means to be a musician in the 21st century. Visit acjw.org to learn more.

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• David Robertson

  
  A consummate musician, masterful programmer, and dynamic presence, David Robertson has established himself as one of today's most sought-after American conductors. A passionate and compelling communicator with an extensive knowledge of orchestral and operatic repertoire, he has forged close relationships with major orchestras around the world through his exhilarating music making and stimulating ideas. In September 2012, Mr. Robertson will embark on his eighth season as music director of the 133-year-old St. Louis Symphony by taking the orchestra on a four-city European tour-its first European engagement since 1998. He continues as principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 2005.
  
  Highlights of Mr. Robertson's 2011-2012 season with the St. Louis Symphony include the world premiere of Steven Mackey's piano concerto Stumble to Grace, as well as the orchestra's eighth consecutive annual appearance at Carnegie Hall. In May 2012, Mr. Robertson returns to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct Britten's Billy Budd and also leads the MET Orchestra in a performance at Carnegie Hall. In addition to his current commitments with the St. Louis and BBC symphonies, Mr. Robertson is a frequent guest conductor with major orchestras and opera houses around the world. His guest engagements in the US include performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Ensemble ACJW. Internationally, Mr. Robertson appears with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, and the Sydney and Melbourne symphony orchestras. In addition to his fresh interpretations of traditional repertoire, Mr. Robertson conducts world premieres this season of works by Graham Fitkin, John Cage, Klaas de Vries, and Elliott Carter.
  
  With more than 45 operas in his repertoire, Mr. Robertson is also successful on the operatic scene and has appeared at many of the world's most prestigious opera houses, including Teatro alla Scala, Opéra de Lyon, Bavarian State Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet, Hamburg State Opera, Santa Fe Opera House, and San Francisco Opera.
  
  Born in Santa Monica, California, Mr. Robertson was educated at London's Royal Academy of Music, where he studied French horn and composition before turning to orchestral conducting. Mr. Robertson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.

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• Moran Katz

  
  First-prize winner of the 2009 Freiburg International Clarinet Competition in Germany, clarinetist Moran Katz performs extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has appeared as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Collegium Musicum Basel, Albany Symphony, and Brooklyn Philharmonic. She has performed internationally at the United Nations Hall (Switzerland), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Belgium); "Les Musicales" Festival in Colmar, Les Invalides in Paris, and Palais des Fêtes in Strasbourg (France); Roaring Hooves Festival (Mongolia); and Two Days and Two Nights of New Music / 2D2N festival (Ukraine). In the US, she's performed at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joe's Pub, Miller Theatre, and Bargemusic. As a chamber musician, Ms. Katz has collaborated with the Ariel, Carmel, Contemporary, Tesla, Benaim, and Old City string quartets, as well as with artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Vera Beths, and Arnold Steinhardt.
  
  Following her third summer as a resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival, Ms. Katz's 2011-2012 season includes a tour of the West Coast, performances in Israel, chamber music concerts with the Vogler Quartet in Ireland and Germany, recitals for the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society, a New York debut recital at Merkin Concert Hall, and a duo recital appearance at the Chamber Music Hall of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
  
  Active in the contemporary music scene, Ms. Katz often collaborates with the internationally acclaimed Continuum new music ensemble and with pianist Uri Caine's jazz ensemble. She is also a founding member of Shuffle Concert, a newly formed audience-interactive ensemble.
  
  Recipient of the Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant (2010) and America-Israel Cultural Foundation grants (1999-2008), Ms. Katz received her bachelor's degree (2006), master's degree (2008), and artist diploma (2010) from The Juilliard School, where she was admitted with presidential distinction and a full scholarship. She studied with Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima. As a fellow of The Academy, she now teaches in PS 46 in Manhattan.

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