CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Performers
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director and Conductor
Benjamin Beilman, Violin
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Joe Miller, Conductor
Program
RAVEL Le tombeau de Couperin
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé (complete)
Encore:
YSAŸE Finale from Sonata for Solo Violin in E Minor, Op. 27, No. 4
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.This performance is proudly supported by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
At a Glance
Ravel composed the ballet Daphnis et Chloé for Sergei Diaghilev and his fabled Ballets Russes. The work premiered in 1912, less than a year before the company scandalously unveiled Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps. The scenario is based on a Greek pastoral drama by the second-century author Longus, and concerns the goatherd Daphnis and his beloved shepherdess Chloé. Although Ravel later extracted two popular orchestral suites for concert performance, the music for the whole ballet is so carefully structured that Daphnis is best heard in its entirety, as presented today, including an evocative wordless chorus.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 also shares a Paris connection in that it premiered there in 1923, soon after the composer settled in the city. The work, however, dates back more than six years earlier to Prokofiev’s native Russia. The concerto was one of the last pieces he wrote there before leaving in the wake of the 1917 October Revolution. While some Parisian critics, having already grown accustomed to more modernist shocks, found the piece too tame, its lyrical beauty and brilliant middle-movement scherzo have justly captivated audiences from the start.
Bios
The Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for
its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations
of audiences, and admired for a legacy of imagination and innovation on and off the concert
stage. The orchestra is inspiring the future and transforming its rich tradition of
achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging--and
exceeding--that level, by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and
around the world.
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin's connection to the orchestra's musicians has been
praised by both concertgoers and critics since his inaugural season in 2012. Under his
leadership the orchestra returned to recording, with two celebrated CDs on the prestigious
Deutsche Grammophon label, continuing its history of recording success. The orchestra also
reaches thousands of listeners on the radio with weekly Sunday-afternoon broadcasts on
WRTI-FM.
Philadelphia is home, and the orchestra continues to discover new and inventive ways to
nurture its relationship with its loyal patrons at its home in the Kimmel Center, and also
with those who enjoy the orchestra's area performances at the Mann Center, Penn's Landing,
and other cultural, civic, and learning venues. The orchestra maintains a strong commitment
to collaborations with cultural and community organizations on a regional and national
level, all of which create greater access and engagement with classical music as an art
form.
The Philadelphia Orchestra serves as a catalyst for cultural activity across
Philadelphia's many communities, building an offstage presence as strong as its onstage
one. With Mr. Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated body of musicians, and one of the nation's richest
arts ecosystems, the orchestra has launched its HEAR initiative, a portfolio of integrated
initiatives that promotes Health, champions music Education, eliminates barriers to
Accessing the orchestra, and maximizes impact through Research. The orchestra's
award-winning Collaborative Learning programs engage more than 50,000 students, families,
and community members through programs such as PlayINs, Side-By-Sides, PopUP Concerts, free
Neighborhood Concerts, School Concerts, and residency work in Philadelphia and
abroad.
Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, The Philadelphia
Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the US. Having been the first
American orchestra to perform in China (at the request of President Nixon in 1973), the
ensemble today boasts a new partnership with Beijing's National Centre for the Performing
Arts and the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, and in 2017 will be the first-ever Western
orchestra to appear in Mongolia. The orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while
also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Vail. For more
information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit philorch.org.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now confirmed to lead The Philadelphia Orchestra
through the 2025-2026 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment.
Additionally, he becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera beginning with the
2021-2022 season. Yannick is an inspired leader of the orchestra. His intensely
collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm have been
heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him
"phenomenal," adding that under his baton, "the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings
and homogenous richness, has never sounded better." Highlights of his fifth season include
an exploration of American sounds, with works by Leonard Bernstein, Christopher Rouse,
Mason Bates, and Christopher Theofanidis; a Music of Paris festival; and the
continuation of a focus on opera and sacred vocal works, with Bartók's Bluebeard's
Castle and Mozart's C-Minor Mass.
Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of
the most thrilling talents of his generation. He has been music director of the Rotterdam
Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008, and artistic director and principal conductor of
Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. He was also principal guest conductor of the
London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances
with the world's most revered ensembles and has conducted critically acclaimed performances
at many of the leading opera houses.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under
his leadership, The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with two CDs on that
label. He continues fruitful recording relationships with the Rotterdam Philharmonic
Orchestra on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the
LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.
A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at
Montreal's Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo
Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster
Choir College. Among Yannick's honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of
Canada, Musical America's 2016 Artist of the Year, Canada's National Arts Centre
Award, the Prix Denise-Pelletier, and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec,
Curtis Institute of Music, and Westminster Choir College. To read Yannick's full bio,
please visit philorch.org/conductor.
Benjamin Beilman
Twenty-six-year-old American violinist Benjamin Beilman made his Philadelphia Orchestra
debut in 2009 at the Mann Center and his subscription debut in 2015. In addition to his
return to the orchestra for performances in Verizon Hall and Carnegie Hall, highlights of
his 2016-2017 season include appearing as soloist on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's new
music series, MusicNOW; performances with the Detroit and Atlanta symphony orchestras and
the San Diego and Grand Rapids symphonies; and recital debuts in San Francisco and
Vancouver. Abroad, he makes debuts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and at
the Dvořák Festival in Prague; returns to London's Wigmore Hall; and appears in recital on
a 10-city tour of Australia, including debut appearances in Sydney and Melbourne.
In March 2016, Warner Classics released Mr. Beilman's debut recital CD of works by
Schubert, Janáček, and Stravinsky. He also has recorded Prokofiev's complete sonatas for
violin on the Analekta label. His performance highlights last season included a debut with
Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the world premiere of a new concerto
written for him by Edmund Finnis with the London Contemporary Orchestra. Mr. Beilman also
returned to Europe to play Beethoven with the London Chamber Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, and
for recitals at the Louvre, Wigmore Hall, and the Verbier and Aix-en-Provence festivals. He
is a frequent guest artist at such festivals as Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, and
Chamber Music Northwest, as well as at the Bridgehampton, Marlboro, Santa Fe, Seattle, and
Sedona chamber music festivals.
Mr. Beilman is the recipient of the prestigious 2014 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a
2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a 2012 London Music Masters Award. In 2010, he won
first prizes in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the Montreal
International Musical Competition. In 2009, he was a winner of Astral Artists' National
Auditions. Mr. Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of
Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Christian
Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. He plays an Antonio Stradivari violin kindly
loaned to him through the Beare's International Violin Society.
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Recognized as one of the world's leading choral ensembles, the Westminster Symphonic Choir
has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally
acclaimed conductor of the past 82 years. The choir made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut
in 1934 with Leopold Stokowski in Bach's Mass in B Minor. In recent seasons, the ensemble
has been featured in performances of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Verdi's Requiem,
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Bernstein's Mass, and Mahler's Symphony No. 8,
"Symphony of a Thousand," under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who studied choral
conducting at Westminster Choir College.
Highlights of the choir's 2016-2017 season include two additional appearances with The
Philadelphia Orchestra, Mozart's Mass in C Minor, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and
Britten's War Requiem, conducted by Charles Dutoit; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and
Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw with the New York Philharmonic; and
Rachmaninoff's Vespers, as part of the New York Philharmonic's Tchaikovsky and
His World festival. Recent seasons have included performances of Berg's
Wozzeck with London's Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen; Villa-Lobos's
Chôros No. 10 and Estévez's Cantata criolla with the Simón Bolívar
Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim; and Christopher Rouse's Requiem with the
New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert.
The ensemble is composed of juniors, seniors, and graduate students at Westminster Choir
College. The choir is led by Joe Miller, director of choral activities at the college and
artistic director for choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA. Dr. Miller has made
three recordings with the 40-voice Westminster Choir, which is part of the larger Symphonic
Choir: Noël, a collection of French Christmas music and sacred works; The
Heart's Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder; and Flower of Beauty, which
received four stars from Choir and Organ magazine and earned the ensemble critical
praise from American Record Guide as "the gold standard for academic choirs in
America." Westminster Choir College is a division of Rider University's Westminster College
of the Arts, which has campuses in Princeton and Lawrenceville, New Jersey.