THEBALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND MUSIC DIRECTOR MARIN ALSOP
PERFORM TWO CONCERTS AT CARNEGIE HALL, NOVEMBER 13 AND 14
Pianist Simon Trpceski Is Soloist in
Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on November 13
On November 14, Chorus Comprising Hundreds of New York City
High School Students Perform
Too Hot To Handel: The Gospel Messiah with Orchestra, Ms.Alsop, and Soloists
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and MusicDirector Marin Alsop return to Carnegie Hall for two programs thisseason. The first program, on Saturday, November 13 at 8:00 p.m., featurespianist Simon Trpceski as guest soloist in Prokofiev’s Piano ConcertoNo. 3 and also includes works by Barber and Beethoven. The second program,presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, on Sunday, November 14 at4:00 p.m. is a presentation of Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah, amodern update of Handel’s classic work, featuring a choir of hundreds of NewYork City high school students.
The first program leads off with one of Barber’s masterworks, Second Essay forOrchestra, Op. 17, which received its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1942.Following the Prokofiev concerto with Mr. Trpceski, the BSO and Ms. Alsopperform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, “Eroica,” inMahler’s re-orchestration that first polarized audiences during fin-de-siècleVienna.
The second program concludes an 11-month long education project, in whichCarnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute teamed up with conductor Marin Alsop andthe Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. This exciting choral creative learningproject has been centered around the work Too Hot to Handel: The GospelMessiah, conceived by Ms. Alsop, co-arranged and orchestrated by colleaguesBob Christianson and Gary Anderson, taking the timeless brilliance of Handel’s Messiahand infusing it with jazz, gospel, rock, and R&B. The work has been thefocus of hundreds of New York City choir students from six New York City highschools—located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx—who became activeparticipants in the creative process and will have the once in a lifetimeopportunity to perform the work at Carnegie Hall with this world-classorchestra and conductor.
During the November 14 performance, members of the audience will be providedsheet music from the reworked “Hallelujah Chorus” and—in Messiahtradition—will be encouraged to sing along with the student choir andorchestra. Special guest soloists on this program are soprano KeciaLewis-Evans, mezzo-soprano Vaneese Thomas, and tenor Darius deHaas.
A separate songwriting workshop for select students involved in the Too Hotto Handel project culminates with a performance of their ownstudent-written compositions and excerpts from the larger piece in Zankel Hallon Sunday, November 21 at 3:00 p.m. In the weeks leading up to bothperformances, check out video webisodes detailing the students’ work onthe project. The first three of seven episodes can already be seen at carnegiehall.org/handel.
About the Artists
With the ability to perform a diverse range of repertoire from Haydn and Chopinto Debussy and Stravinsky, Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski hasperformed with many of the world's greatest orchestras and conductorsworldwide. In North America, he has performed with the New York and Los AngelesPhilharmonic orchestras, The Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, and thePittsburgh, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras,among others. In the United Kingdom, he is a frequent soloist with the Londonand City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras and the London Philharmonic. InAsia, he has performed with the New Japan, Seoul, and Hong Kong Philharmonics.Mr. Trpceski has worked with a prominent list of conductors, including MarinAlsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit,Vladimir Jurowski, Lorin Maazel, and David Zinman. Mr. Trpceski has given soloperformances in such cultural capitals as New York City, San Francisco,Atlanta, Portland, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver in North America; and abroadin London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Dublin,and Tokyo. In December 2009, the President of Macedonia, H.E. Gjorge Ivanov,honored Mr. Trpceski with the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia. Thisdecoration is given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for theaffirmation of Macedonia abroad. Mr. Trpceski has received widespread acclaimfor his recital recordings on the EMI label. His first recording, released in2002, featured works by Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev, andreceived both the "Editor's Choice" and "Debut Album"awards at the Gramophone Awards. His 2005 Rachmaninoff and 2007 Chopin discsboth received extensive praise from critics. Born in the Republic of Macedoniain 1979, Mr. Trpceski has won prizes in international piano competitions in theUnited Kingdom, Italy, and the Czech Republic. He is a graduate of the Schoolof Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where hestudied with Professor Boris Romanov.
Hailed as one of the world's leading conductors for her artistic vision andcommitment to accessibility in classical music, Marin Alsop made historywith her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore SymphonyOrchestra (BSO). With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became thefirst woman to head a major American orchestra, mirroring her ongoing successin the United Kingdom as principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony since2002. Since becoming the BSO's Music Director, she has garnered national andinternational attention for her innovative programming and artistry. In 2005,she was named a MacArthur Fellow, the first and only conductor ever to receivethis most prestigious American award. In 2007, she was honored with a EuropeanWomen of Achievement Award, presented to individuals whose vision, courage anddetermination have made a major impact on increasing the influence of women onEuropean affairs. A native of New York City, Ms. Alsop attended Yale Universityand received her master's degree from The Juilliard School. In 1989, herconducting career was launched when she was a prizewinner at the LeopoldStokowski International Conducting Competition in New York, and in the sameyear was awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at the Tanglewood MusicCenter.
The Grammy Award-winning Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is internationallyrecognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world's orchestras.Acclaimed for its enduring pursuit of artistic excellence, the BSO hasattracted a devoted national and international following while maintaining deepbonds throughout Maryland with innovative education and community outreachinitiatives. The Orchestra made musical history in September 2007, when MaestraMarin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the BSO's 12th music director, makingher the first woman to head a major American orchestra. Under Music DirectorMarin Alsop’s leadership, the BSO has rapidly added several criticallyacclaimed albums to its already impressive discography. The BSO recentlyreleased Dvorák’s Symphonies Nos. 6, 7, and 8, the final two discs in itsthree-disc Dvorák cycle. In August 2009, the BSO and Ms. Alsop releasedBernstein’s Mass featuring baritone Jubilant Sykes, the Morgan StateUniversity Choir, and the Peabody Children’s Chorus. The album rose to numbersix on the Classical Billboard Charts and received a 2009 Grammy nomination forBest Classical Album and earned Grammophone magazine’s 2010 Editor’sChoice Award. In addition to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where theorchestra has performed for 27 years, the BSO is a founding partner and theresident orchestra at the new state-of-the-art Music Center at Strathmore, justoutside Washington, D.C. With the opening of Strathmore in February 2005, theBSO became the nation’s only major orchestra with year-round venues in twometropolitan areas.
The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
The Weill Music Institute creates broad-reaching music education and communityprograms that play a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making greatmusic accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Woven into the fabric ofthe Carnegie Hall concert season, these programs occur at Carnegie Hall as wellas in schools and throughout neighborhoods, providing musical opportunities foreveryone, from preschoolers to adults, new listeners to emerging professionals.With access to the world’s greatest artists and latest technologies, the WeillMusic Institute is uniquely positioned to inspire the next generation of music lovers,to nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and to shape the evolution of musicallearning itself. The Weill Music Institute’s school and community programsannually serve over 115,000 children, students, teachers, parents, young musicprofessionals, and adults in the New York metropolitan area and across the US,as well as 65,000 people around the world through its online and distancelearning initiatives.
For more information, please visit: www.carnegiehall.org/exploreandlearn.
Program Information
Saturday, November 13 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Marin Alsop, Music Director and Conductor
Simon Trpceski, Piano
SAMUEL BARBER Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17
SERGEI PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica"(orch. Gustav Mahler)
Tickets: $31, $37, $46, $61, $82, $90
___________________________________
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
TOO HOT TO HANDEL: THE GOSPEL MESSIAH
Marin Alsop, Music Director and Conductor
Kecia Lewis-Evans, Soprano
Vaneese Thomas, Mezzo-Soprano
Darius de Haas, Tenor
Leslie Stifelman, Music Supervisor
Choirs from:
Bayside High School
Edward R. Murrow High School
Fordham High School for the Arts
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
Songs of Solomon
Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts
BOB CHRISTIANSON / GARY ANDERSON Too Hot to Handel (original concept byMarin Alsop)
A mass choir of New York City students joins Marin Alsop and the BaltimoreSymphony Orchestra in Too Hot to Handel. This full-length work hasthrilled audiences across the country with its blend of the timeless brillianceof Handel's Messiah with an invigorating infusion of jazz, gospel, rock,and R&B.
Tickets: $19, $38, $50
___________________________________
Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.
Zankel Hall
THE GOSPEL MESSIAH CREATIVE LEARNING PROJECT
Choirs from:
Bayside High School
Edward R. Murrow High School
Fordham High School for the Arts
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
Songs of Solomon
Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts
The Weill Music Institute’s programs are made available to a nationwideaudience, in part, by the US Department of Education and by an endowment grantfrom the Citi Foundation.
Tickets: Free (Tickets will be distributed on day of performance. Limit two perperson.)
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
| Ticket Information Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.
For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.
In addition, for all Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. |
# # #