Press Center

THENEW YORK STRING ORCHESTRA AND JAIME LAREDO PERFORM
ANNUAL HOLIDAY SEASON CONCERTS AT CARNEGIE HALL
ON DECEMBER 24 AND DECEMBER 28

Violinist Jennifer Koh and Pianist Benjamin Hochman Are
Featured Soloists on December 24

Soloists on December 28 include Flutist Tara Helen O’Connor,
Oboist Ariana Ghez, and Trumpeter David Washburn Performing
Barber’s Capricorn Concerto, and Violinist Daniel Hope
and Cellist Paul Watkins in Brahms’s Double Concerto in A Minor

More than 60 Top Young Musicians from Around the World Come Together for
Ten-Day Seminar in New York City Led by Artistic Director Jaime Laredo 

The New York String Orchestra returns to CarnegieHall this holiday season with its ensemble of young musicians for its twoannual concerts in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, conducted by ArtisticDirector Jaime Laredo. Over the past 41 years, the orchestra’s annualappearances each December have become a Carnegie Hall tradition and are theculmination of the ten-day New York String Orchestra Seminar, anationally-acclaimed professional training program founded in 1969 for highlygifted 15 to 22-year-old musicians, held under the auspices of Mannes CollegeThe New School for Music. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, one of many professional musicianswho attended the workshop as a teenager, has called it “one of the definingmoments” of his career.

On Friday, December 24 at 7:00 p.m., the orchestra performs Mozart’s Overtureto Così fan tutte and Symphony No. 31 in D Major “Paris,” as well asMendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Strings in D Minor featuringviolinist Jennifer Koh and pianist Benjamin Hochman. The secondprogram, on Tuesday, December 28 at 8:00 p.m., includes Barber’s CapricornConcerto with flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, oboist Ariana Ghez,and trumpeter David Washburn; Brahms’ Double Concerto in A Minor withviolinist Daniel Hope and cellist Paul Watkins; and Beethoven’sSymphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, “Eroica.”

In the New York String Orchestra Seminar's 41-year history, there has neverbeen an application fee, and all those invited to participate receive fullscholarships to this acclaimed national program. This season, over 400 studentsapplied to the Seminar, representing 42 states and 19 countries. Auditions wereheld in nine cities across the country, Bloomington, Boston, Chicago,Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Rochester, and San Francisco, toensure that as many students as possible could audition without incurringtravel costs. Those selected will be sent invitations to participate in theprogram, and six weeks later they will travel to New York from across thenation and world to rehearse and perform together as the 2010 New York StringOrchestra.

In preparation for the concerts at Carnegie Hall, the young musicians will havethe opportunity to rehearse with Mr. Laredo and renowned soloists includingJennifer Koh and Paul Watkins, as well as in chamber music workshops withcelebrated artists including members of the Emerson, Juilliard, Orion, andGuarneri String Quartets, and be introduced to new musical worlds with anemphasis on playing expressively. This year’s chamber music faculty includescellists Bonnie Hampton, Sharon Robinson, and Peter Wiley*; violinists PamelaFrank*, Ida Kavafian, Daniel Phillips*, Todd Phillips*, Sylvia Rosenberg*, andHiroko Yajima; violists Samuel Rhodes, Steven Tenenbom*, and Michael Tree;flutist Bart Feller*; oboist Linda Strommen*; clarinetist Anthony McGill*; andbassoonist Frank Morelli (*indicates New York String Orchestra Seminar alumni).

About the Artists
For almost five decades, violinist Jaime Laredo has excelled in theroles of violinist, conductor, recitalist, and chamber musician. Since hisorchestral debut at the age of 11 with the San Francisco Symphony, Mr. Laredohas won the admiration and respect of audiences, critics, and fellow musicians.He has been continually engaged by all of America’s major orchestras, includingthose of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia, with suchconductors as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, and Leonard Slatkin.Abroad, Mr. Laredo has performed as soloist and conductor with the LondonSymphony, the BBC Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields, and the Royal Philharmonic. For over 30 years, Mr. Laredohas interwoven solo and conducting dates with the schedule of theKalichstein-Laredo-Robinson trio, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in2007, and his commitment to educating the next generation of musicians. Inaddition to leading the New York String Orchestra, Mr. Laredo is Music Directorof the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the 92nd Street Y’sChamber Music Series, and guides the International Violin Competition ofIndianapolis. Mr. Laredo has been a principal figure at the Marlboro Music andAspen Music Festivals and is on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music ofIndiana University. Mr. Laredo first performed as a soloist with the New YorkString Orchestra in 1970.

The New York String Orchestra Seminar, founded in 1969 by artsadministrator Frank Salomon for the late conductor and violinist AlexanderSchneider, is a professional education program that has prepared nearly 2,000young musicians for careers as chamber, orchestral, and solo artists. A projectof Mannes College The New School for Music’s New School Concerts department;the seminar brings 62 young musicians (ages 15-22) from around the country toNew York City in December for a ten-day seminar of rehearsals and performancepreparation led by violinist/conductor Jaime Laredo, along with three hours aday of chamber music coaching with distinguished chamber artists. In 1993 Mr.Laredo, Mr. Schneider's personal choice for successor, became artistic directorand conductor of the seminar. All of the students invited to participate do soon full scholarship.

Ariana Ghez, principal oboist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is analumna of the New York String Orchestra Seminar. Prior to her appointment inLos Angeles, she was Principal Oboe of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra andthe Santa Fe Opera. As a soloist, she has performed with the Los AngelesPhilharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, and with Paula Robison at the MetropolitanMuseum of Art. As an advocate of new music, Ms. Ghez has performed ElliottCarter’s Asko Concerto at Weill Recital Hall with Oliver Knussen andcollaborated with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes at Zankel Hall. Ms. Ghez holds abachelor’s degree in English literature from Columbia University, where sheenrolled in the Columbia/Juilliard School joint program and studied with JohnMack and John Ferrillo. She has also pursued graduate studies at TempleUniversity in Philadelphia, where she studied with Richard Woodhams and was ateaching assistant for oboe.

Benjamin Hochman has earned widespread acclaim for his performances withthe New York and Israel Philharmonics and the Chicago, Cincinnati, New Jersey,Pittsburgh, and Vancouver Symphonies. He has collaborated with the Tokyo,Mendelssohn, Casals, Pražák, and Daedalus Quartets, the Zukerman ChamberPlayers, members of the Guameri and Orion Quartets, and with Miklós Perényi,Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, and Ani Kavafian. In 2009, he released his firstalbum on Artek featuring solo works of Bach, Berg, and Webern. Mr. Hochman’s2010-2011 season includes his San Francisco Symphony debut, a solo recital atNew York’s 92nd Street Y, and festival appearances at Ravinia, Charlottesville,Salt Bay, and Appalachian Summer. Born in Jerusalem, Mr. Hochman is a graduateof the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music.

British violinist Daniel Hope has toured the world as a virtuoso soloistfor many years, and as the youngest ever member of the Beaux Arts Trio duringits last six seasons. Mr. Hope performs as soloist with the world’s majororchestras and conductors, directs many ensembles as a soloist, and playschamber music in a wide variety of traditional and new settings. Highlightsinclude performances with the Boston, Chicago, Toronto, and Atlanta symphonyorchestras, as well as the major orchestras of Berlin, Birmingham, Dallas,Detroit, Dresden, Israel, London, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm, and Vienna.Born in South Africa and raised in England, Mr. Hope earned degrees at theRoyal Academy of Music, where he studied with renowned Russian pedagogue ZakharBron.

Since the 1994-1995 season when violinist Jennifer Koh won theInternational Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Concert Artists GuildCompetition, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, she has been heard with leadingorchestras and conductors around the world. Ms. Koh also appears frequently inrecital at major music centers including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center,Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and festivals including Marlboro, Wolf Trap, andSpoleto. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Curtis Institute ofMusic, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir.

Flutist Tara Helen O'Connor has appeared at the 92nd Street Y, CarnegieHall’s Zankel Hall, Symphony Space, Music @ Menlo, and the Banff Centre. Thisseason's highlights include performances with the Orion String Quartet andWindscape in Michigan, Virginia, and at the Kennedy Center; a trip to Spainwith the Andalusian Dogs and Dawn Upshaw performing Golijov's Ayre; and acollaboration with Elliott Fisk at The 92nd Street Y; as well as being aninvited guest soloist of the Ohio, Utah, and Long Island Flute ClubAssociations. A founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning New MillenniumEnsemble, she is also a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape. Winner of anAvery Fisher Career Grant, she was the first wind player to participate in theCMS Two program and is now an Artist of the Chamber Music Society. A two-timeGrammy Award nominee, Ms. O’Connor teaches at the Bard College Conservatory,Manhattan School of Music, and is professor of flute and head of the winddepartment of Purchase College Conservatory of Music.

David Washburn is a Yamaha Performing Artist, the principal trumpet ofthe Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and associate principal trumpet with the LosAngeles Opera Orchestra. His upcoming engagements include performances with theSanta Fe Chamber Music Festival and La Jolla Chamber Music Festival. Mr.Washburn has been a featured soloist with many orchestras including the LosAngeles, St. Louis, Know Galesburg, Hong Kong, and California philharmonics;the Los Angeles, San Diego, and South Bay chamber orchestras; and the Berkeley,Burbank, and Glendale symphonies. He received his Masters of Music, withdistinction, from the New England Conservatory of Music and his Bachelor ofMusic from the University of Southern California.

In the 2009–2010 season, cellist and conductor Paul Watkins became thefirst ever Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra. He also took on therole of the Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. He first came topublic attention as a cellist, but also developed a flourishing career as aconductor, launched in 2002 when a jury unanimously awarded him first prize atthe Leeds Conductors’ Competition. As a cellist, Mr. Watkins works regularlywith many of the major orchestras in the UK and overseas, including a recenthighlight of a televised performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto at the FirstNight of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by JiríBelohlávek and recorded live by Deutsche Grammophon.


Program Information
Friday, December 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
NEW YORK STRING ORCHESTRA
Jaime Laredo, Conductor
Jennifer Koh, Violin
Benjamin Hochman, Piano

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Overture to Così fan tutte
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Strings in D Minor
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Symphony No. 31 in D Major, K. 297, "Paris"

This concert is made possible, in part, by an endowment fund for young artistsestablished by Stella and Robert Jones.
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Tuesday, December 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
NEW YORK STRING ORCHESTRA
Jaime Laredo, Conductor
Daniel Hope, Violin
Paul Watkins, Cello
Tara Helen O'Connor, Flute
Ariana Ghez, Oboe
David Washburn, Trumpet

SAMUEL BARBER Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21
JOHANNES BRAHMS Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica"

This concert is made possible, in part, by an endowment fund for young artistsestablished by Stella and Robert Jones.


Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.