Jeffrey Kahane to Perform World Premiere by Andrew Norman, 10/12

James Gaffigan will make his New York Philharmonic subscription debut conducting the World Premiere of Andrew Norman's Split, for piano and orchestra, composed for Jeffrey Kahane, who will be the soloist. The program also includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and Richard Strauss's tone poem Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. The concerts take place Thursday, December 10, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, December 12 at 8:00 p.m.

Andrew Norman's Split will explore the long tradition of the piano concerto as a medium. The Philharmonic commissioned the work, with the support of Linda and Stuart Nelson, following the well-received New York Premiere of Mr. Norman's Try on a December 2012 CONTACT! program and after discussions with Jeffrey Kahane, who approached the Philharmonic about commissioning a piano concerto from Mr. Norman. Jeffrey Kahane has appeared with the Philharmonic 42 times. Andrew Norman writes that in composing Split, he "started with the idea of casting Jeffrey as a mercurial trickster, wreaking havoc in and among the various sections of the orchestra, but as the piece progressed he became less the prankster and more the pranked, an unwitting protagonist trapped in a Rube Goldbergian labyrinth of causes and effects who tries, with ever greater desperation, to find his way out of the madness and on to some peaceful plane."

"It is a tremendous honor to be commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. I'm looking forward to collaborating with some of the finest classical musicians on the planet, and to finding some new and interesting sounds together with them," Andrew Norman said. "I took much inspiration from the wit, vitality, and expressive character of Jeffrey Kahane's playing and tried to write music that lets Jeff be Jeff in the best possible way."

James Gaffigan previously led a New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert in March 2007. In February 2015 he led Andrew Norman's Suspend with the Orchestre national de France and pianist Inon Barnatan, the Philharmonic's Artist-in-Association.