92Y To Present Orpheus Chamber Orchestra And Violinist Carolin Widmann In Her New York Debut

On Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 8:00pm at Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y presents Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and German violinist Carolin Widmann in her New York debut. Widmann takes the lead in Kurt Weill's showstopping Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra, Op. 12, which combines the composer's classical European pedigree with hints of the swinging Broadway style he would later adopt in full. Works for winds by Mozart bookend the Weill Concerto: a transcription of the Overture to The Marriage of Figaro and the substantial, operatic Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 "Gran Partita," notably used in the popular film Amadeus.

Program Information:

Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 8:00pm
92nd Street Y | Kaufmann Concert Hall
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Carolin Widmann, violin
Link: https://www.92y.org/event/orpheus-chamber-orchestra-carolin-widmann.aspx

Program:
MOZART (arr. Wendt): Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
WEILL: Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra, Op. 12
Carolin Widmann, violin
MOZART: Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 "Gran Partita"

This concert is made possible in part with support from the Kurt Weill Foundation.

Tickets can be purchased at 92Y.org or by calling (212) 415-5500.

A wonderfully versatile musician, Carolin Widmann's activities span the great classical concerti, new commissions specially written for her, solo recitals, a wide variety of chamber music and, increasingly, period instrument performances, including play/direction from the violin.

Widmann was awarded the Bayerischer Staatspreis for music in 2017, honouring her individuality and exceptional musicianship. Widmann was also the recipient of an International Classical Music Award (Concerto category) for her critically acclaimed recording of both Mendelssohn's and Schumann's Violin Concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, released in August 2016 by ECM and which Widmann herself conducted from the violin.

Highlights of Widmann's 2019/20 season include return invitations to Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Dresden Philharmoniker, BBC Symphony Orchestra London and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester with Alan Gilbert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Beethovenfest Bonn. Widmann will also return to the São Paulo Symphony for a play/direct project, as well as to the Alte Oper Frankfurt for her debut with Accademia Bizantia on baroque violin. Other debuts this season include the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for her New York concerto debut.

Named 'Musician of the Year' at the International Classical Music Awards 2013, Ms Widmann has played with Leipzig Gewandhaus, Orchestre National de France, Tonhalle Zurich, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Bayerische Rundfunk, with distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowski, Marek Janowski, and Pablo Heras-Casado. She also appears at such widely known festivals as Berliner Festspiele, Salzburg, Lucerne, Festival d' Automne and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Since 2006, she has been professor of violin at Leipzig's University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy". Learn more at www.carolinwidmann.com.

In 1972, a group of young artists made history by creating an orchestra without a conductor in which musicians led themselves democratically. Since then, the Grammy award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has recorded over 70 albums on all major classical labels, toured to 46 countries across four continents, and collaborated with hundreds of world-class soloists.

Orpheus' 34 member musicians work together as a collective and rotate leadership roles for all works performed, giving flight to unconventional interpretations. This democratic structure also extends to organizational functions including programming and governance: the orchestra elects three members to Artistic Director positions and three to the Board of Trustees.

Orpheus' 2019-20 New York performance season features collaborations with Jan Lisiecki, Vadim Gluzman, Tine Thing Helseth, and the Sphinx Virtuosi. The season opened with a new commission by the orchestra's first-ever Artistic Partner, composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery. Orpheus' 2019-20 touring schedule includes appearances in Germany, Canada, and across the United States. In March, Orpheus will perform A Harlem Dream, an original collaboration with the Classical Theatre of Harlem at the SHIFT: Festival of American Orchestras, co-presented by the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts.

An essential part of New York City's cultural landscape, Orpheus presents annual series at Carnegie Hall and 92Y. Orpheus tours to major international venues and has appeared regularly in Japan for 30 years; recent engagements include the Prague Spring and Dresden Music Festivals and a 12-concert tour of Asia. The orchestra's extensive discography includes a February 2019 release on Deutsche Grammophon of Mendelssohn concertos with pianist Jan Lisiecki. Champions of chamber orchestra repertoire, Orpheus has commissioned and premiered over 50 new works.

Orpheus shares its collaborative model through education and community engagement initiatives that promote equity and access to the arts for listeners of all ages around the world. These include programs for K-12 students, opportunities for emerging professional musicians, and a music and wellness program for people living with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia.

For more information about Orpheus please visit www.OrpheusNYC.org or call 212.896.1700.