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Carnegie Hall Announces 2008-2009 Season
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Carnegie Hall News
Back to Press Release List > 02/08/2008 - Carnegie Hall Announces 2008-2009 Season
CARNEGIE HALL ANNOUNCES 2008–2009 SEASON
| TWO MAJOR FESTIVALS EXPLORE AMERICA’S RICH MUSICAL HERITAGE: |
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
Commemorating Leonard Bernstein—Fall 2008 |
Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy
Curated by Jessye Norman—Spring 2009 |
| CARNEGIE HALL PERSPECTIVES ENTERS 10TH SEASON: |
Acclaimed Conductor-Pianist Daniel Barenboim in 15-Event Series
Culminating in a Complete Mahler Symphony Cycle Led by Barenboim and Pierre Boulez |
Tabla Virtuoso Zakir Hussain Showcased in Five Events
Collaborating with Wide Range of Artists |
ELLIOTT CARTER APPOINTED CARNEGIE HALL’S
DEBS COMPOSER’S CHAIR WITH
SEASON-LONG RESIDENCY LAUNCHING IN HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY WEEK
LEGENDARY COMPOSER GYÖRGY KURTÁG’S FIRST NEW YORK VISIT
PART OF TWO-WEEK CELEBRATION OF HUNGARIAN MUSIC
EXTENSIVE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES OF THE WEILL MUSIC INSTITUTE AND
THE ACADEMY ENRICH PROGRAMMING AND PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES
TO STUDENTS, MUSICIANS, AND AUDIENCES
(NEW YORK)—Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director, today announced Carnegie Hall’s 2008–2009 season featuring more than 200 performances by many of the world’s finest artists, presented on Carnegie Hall’s three stages and throughout New York City in collaborations with many of the city’s leading cultural institutions. Major highlights of Carnegie Hall’s new season include two complementary citywide festivals that celebrate the dynamic culture and distinctive history of American music—Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, commemorating the life of iconic American musician Leonard Bernstein, co-presented with the New York Philharmonic in fall 2008, and Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy, curated by Jessye Norman in spring 2009.
“With two major festivals in 2008–2009, we build on our programming approach launched in 2007–2008. Working in partnership with many great New York City cultural institutions, we are offering audiences exciting journeys across a broad cultural spectrum, inspired and drawn together by compelling themes,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director. “Following our current major international focus, our 2008–2009 season pays tribute to the remarkable contribution that the United States has made to world culture, with celebrations of Leonard Bernstein, the African American cultural legacy, and Elliott Carter’s 100th birthday, featuring concerts, special events, and major educational initiatives. Building on Carnegie Hall’s remarkable history, our goal is to ensure that our institution, through its programming, continues to play a central part in broadening the role and relevance of arts and culture in the lives of the people of this great city and beyond.”
Highlights Overview
With two major festivals—Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds and Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy—anchoring its 2008–2009 season, Carnegie Hall invites audiences to explore important American themes, celebrating the musical riches and diverse cultural history of the US—a history that has been intertwined with that of the Hall for nearly 120 years.
Carnegie Hall’s season opens on September 24 with a gala concert launching Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds with Michael Tilson Thomas leading the San Francisco Symphony and soloists Thomas Hampson, Yo-Yo Ma, and Dawn Upshaw in an all-Bernstein program, to be recorded for later broadcast on PBS’s Great Performances. The Bernstein festival, co-presented with the New York Philharmonic, celebrates the extraordinary achievements of the late Leonard Bernstein, one of the most important international musicians of the 20th century and a quintessential New Yorker, in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his appointment as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. The citywide festival continues through December 13 and includes over 30 events and educational projects at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, New York City Center, and other collaborating partner venues.
In March 2009, Carnegie Hall salutes the enduring vitality, influence, and creativity of African American music. Curated by renowned soprano Jessye Norman, Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy offers a personal exploration of the Spiritual, gospel, jazz, R&B, and classical voices that have made African American music celebrated throughout the world; it also pays tribute to these pioneering artists with nearly 20 concerts, recitals, and panel discussions at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and other venues in the city.
The Bernstein and Honor! festivals represent Carnegie Hall’s commitment to presenting major festivals each season, drawing together all of the Hall’s programmatic and educational resources and inviting audiences to explore compelling themes, reflected across the spectrum of the arts. Carnegie Hall launched this initiative in November 2007 with its first major international festival Berlin in Lights, which received worldwide acclaim. As with Berlin in Lights, Carnegie Hall’s two American festivals in 2008–2009 feature collaborations with a wide variety of cultural institutions throughout New York City and large-scale education projects under the aegis of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.
Major highlights of Carnegie Hall’s 2008–2009 season also include the 10th anniversary of Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives, with personally curated series by conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim and tabla player Zakir Hussain; the appointment of American composer Elliott Carter to the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall during his 100th birthday year; and a celebration of the music of Hungary, to include a weeklong residency by eminent composer György Kurtág, who makes his first visit to New York. Also, the extensive educational activities of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall and of The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education—have been further integrated into Carnegie Hall’s programming. Programs of The Weill Music Institute continue to offer valuable opportunities for people from all walks of life to engage more closely with music with special programs to be presented as integral parts of the two American festivals as well as eight Professional Training Workshops for young professional musicians, led by world-class visiting artists.
For the fourth consecutive year, Bank of America will be Carnegie Hall’s season sponsor. ”We are immensely grateful to Bank of America for their tremendous support,” said Mr. Gillinson. “Their ongoing commitment helps us to build on the great history of Carnegie Hall, honoring the Hall’s remarkable traditions of presenting artists and ensembles who represent the very best in music, creating diverse programming that attracts a wide variety of audiences, and expanding programming initiatives to provide access to new audiences, bringing the joy of extraordinary music to ever more people.”
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, presented by Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic, celebrates one of the most important international musicians of the 20th century and a quintessential New Yorker—Leonard Bernstein—in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his appointment as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Recognizing Bernstein’s many roles as performer, composer, educator, advocate, and idealist, this wide-ranging festival, presented from September 24 to December 13, 2008, features more than 30 events at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, New York City Center, and a number of partner venues throughout New York City. The celebration, reflecting Bernstein’s multifaceted artistry and work in diverse musical genres, includes concerts, recitals, musical theater, lectures, and film screenings, as well as family and educational programming, illustrating the breadth of this legendary artist’s contributions to music history on both the American and international music scenes.
Bernstein festival events presented by Carnegie Hall include:
• Opening Night Gala of Carnegie Hall’s 118th Season with the San Francisco
Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, Thomas Hampson, Yo-Yo Ma, and Dawn Upshaw
• Bernstein’s Mass at Carnegie Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra led by
Marin Alsop, a Bernstein protégé
• New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall marking the 65th anniversary of
Bernstein’s legendary 1943 Philharmonic debut with a program led by Music Director
Designate Alan Gilbert
• Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel
• The New York Pops: The Bernstein Songbook
• Standard Time with Michael Feinstein
• Bill Charlap Trio in Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein, a jazz tribute
presented in partnership with Absolutely Live Entertainment LLC
• Arias, Barcarolles, a Sonata, and Riffs, a program of Bernstein chamber music and
songs with Robert Spano, Susan Graham, Rod Gilfry, Ricardo Morales, Jeremy Denk,
and members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic
• Special Leonard Bernstein exhibit in Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum
Complementing these concerts and reflecting Bernstein’s unique legacy as an educator, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute undertakes several special projects in fall 2008 tied to the Bernstein festival, including a Carnegie Hall Family Concert and The Bernstein Mass Project, an expansive education program for hundreds of New York City public school students culminating with performances at Zankel Hall and the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights.
Media participation extends the reach of the Bernstein festival beyond New York City. Thirteen/WNET New York will record Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala performance for later broadcast on Great Performances on PBS. Major support for this broadcast will be provided by S. Donald Sussman.
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