The Philadelphia Orchestra

Performers

• The Philadelphia Orchestra
  Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director
• Leonidas Kavakos, Violin

Program

• RAVEL La valse
• SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 61
• SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

Bios

• The Philadelphia Orchestra

  
  Renowned for its distinctive sound, beloved for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for an unrivaled legacy of "firsts" in music making, The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world.
  
  The Philadelphia Orchestra has cultivated an extraordinary history of artistic leaders in its 112 seasons, including music directors Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach, and Charles Dutoit (who served as chief conductor from 2008 to 2012). With the 2012-2013 season, Yannick Nézet-Séguin becomes the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Named music director designate in 2010, Mr. Nézet-Séguin brings a vision that extends beyond symphonic music into the vivid world of opera and choral music.
  
  Philadelphia is home, and the orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, but also those who enjoy the orchestra's other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn's Landing, and other venues. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association also continues to own the Academy of Music-a National Historic Landmark-as it has since 1957.
  
  Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, while also enjoying a three-week residency in Saratoga Springs, NY, and a strong partnership with the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.
  
  The ensemble maintains an important Philadelphia tradition of presenting educational programs for students of all ages. Today, the orchestra executes myriad education and community partnership programs that serve more than 45,000 annually, including its Neighborhood Concert Series, Sound All Around and Family Concerts, and eZseatU. Visit philorch.org for more information.

  
  

  Yannick Nézet-Séguin

  
  Yannick Nézet-Séguin became the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra with the start of the 2012-2013 season. Named music director designate in June 2010, he made his orchestra debut in December 2008. Over the past decade, Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008, he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain. He has appeared with such revered ensembles as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Dresden Staatskapelle, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and major Canadian orchestras. His talents extend beyond symphonic music into opera and choral music, leading acclaimed performances at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Salzburg Festival, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
  
  Highlights of Yannick's inaugural season include his Carnegie Hall debut with the Verdi Requiem, two world premieres, and performances of The Rite of Spring in collaboration with New York-based Ridge Theater, complete with dancers, video projection, and theatrical lighting. In July 2012, Yannick and Deutsche Grammophon announced a major long-term collaboration. His discography with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for BIS Records and EMI/Virgin includes an Edison Award-winning album of Ravel's orchestral works. He has also recorded several award-winning albums with the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. In addition, his first recording with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mahler's Symphony No. 5, is available for download.
  
  A native of Montreal, Yannick studied at that city's Conservatory of Music and continued studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. In 2012, Yannick was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honors. His other honors include Canada's National Arts Centre Award; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal. Visit philorch.org/conductor to read Yannick's full bio.

   

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• Leonidas Kavakos

                                       
  Violinist Leonidas Kavakos has been a regular soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra since making his debut in 1999 performing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto under the baton of Charles Dutoit at the Mann Music Center. He has appeared with the orchestra under the direction of music directors Wolfgang Sawallisch and Christoph Eschenbach, as well as guest conductors Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Peter Oundjian. In 2009, Mr. Kavakos was a guest soloist for the orchestra's tour of Europe and the Canary Islands, performing in Tenerife, Grand Canary, Lisbon, Madrid, Valencia, Luxembourg, Budapest, and Vienna.
  
  Mr. Kavakos was still in his teens when he first gained international attention, winning the Sibelius Competition in 1985 and, three years later, the Paganini Competition. He now works with the world's major orchestras and conductors, including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, La Scala Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics. This season, he is the focus of the London Symphony Orchestra's UBS Soundscapes LSO Artist Portrait;  he is also artist-in-residence at the Berliner Philharmoniker. Increasingly recognized as a conductor as well, Mr. Kavakos makes conducting debuts with the Finnish Radio and Vienna symphony orchestras this season.
  
  Mr. Kavakos is now an exclusive Decca recording artist. His first CD on the label, featuring the complete Beethoven violin sonatas with pianist Enrico Pace, was released this month. They performed the sonatas at the Salzburg Festival in August 2012, and will reprise the performance at the Concertgebouw in 2013. Mr. Kavakos has a distinguished discography, including an award-winning disc with Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and a live recording of Mozart's five violin concertos and Symphony No. 39 with the Camerata Salzburg, both on Sony Classical. In 1991, shortly after winning the Sibelius Competition, Mr. Kavakos won a Gramophone Award for the first-ever recording of the original version of Sibelius's Violin Concerto, recorded on BIS. Mr. Kavakos plays the "Abergavenny" Stradivarius of 1724.

   

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