Alan Gilbert Leads New York Philharmonic ASIA / WINTER 2014 Tour, Now thru 2/19

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic on the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour, today, February 6-19, 2014. The two-week tour - the Philharmonic's seventh international concert tour under Alan Gilbert's leadership - will feature ten concerts in three countries, with performances in Seoul, South Korea; Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, Japan; and Taipei, Taiwan.

Guest soloists include pianist Yefim Bronfman, the Philharmonic's Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and violinist Lisa Batiashvili, both of whom perform with the Orchestra in Tokyo and Taipei, as well as pianists Da Sol, who appears in Seoul, and Makoto Ozone, in Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama. The tour also features five performances of Marie-Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Rapture and two performances of former Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2, commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic, with Mr. Bronfman as soloist.

ASIA / WINTER 2014 will be the Orchestra's second tour of Asia under Mr. Gilbert's leadership, coming almost five years after his first tour with the Orchestra as Music Director in the fall of 2009. It will also mark the New York Philharmonic's eleventh concert tour and third Asian tour under the aegis of Credit Suisse. In addition to the support of Credit Suisse, the New York Philharmonic's Global Sponsor, the Philharmonic's appearance February 12 at Tokyo's Suntory Hall is sponsored by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. A complete schedule of ASIA / WINTER 2014 performances appears at the end of this press release.

"One of the most vivid and gratifying memories of my first season with the New York Philharmonic was our visit to Asia, with concerts in Japan and South Korea, in October 2009," said New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert. "It is with great pleasure that I look forward to returning there, and to making my first visit to Taipei with this Orchestra. This tour will be enriched with the results of some of our most valuable musical partnerships - our current Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse and current Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman, as well as former Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, and with Lisa Batiashvili, a marvelous, natural musician with whom the musicians and I enjoy collaborating. I think we'll be presenting a real picture of today's New York Philharmonic for the inspiring audiences in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan."

"The New York Philharmonic's activities on the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour demonstrate what a valuable resource an orchestra can be," said New York Philharmonic Executive Director Matthew VanBesien. "In addition to Alan Gilbert and the Orchestra's performances of a truly diverse repertoire - spanning masterpieces by Bernstein, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky; contemporary pieces by Christopher Rouse and Magnus Lindberg; and the jazz-inflected Gershwin - we are showcasing several educational projects on this tour, including the results of Seoul's and Tokyo's embrace of our Very Young Composers program, as well as pieces composed by New York schoolchildren inspired by music by their counterparts in Fukushima."

"Asia has been an important destination on this Orchestra's tours since Leonard Bernstein conducted the Orchestra in Japan in 1961," said New York Philharmonic Chairman Gary W. Parr, "and that connection has grown and deepened over the last half century. These musicians have never performed better, thanks in great part to the chemistry they enjoy with Alan Gilbert. We are grateful to Credit Suisse, our Global Sponsor since 2007, as well as Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which is providing generous support for the Philharmonic's appearances in Japan - together they are helping to make it possible for the New York Philharmonic to share our music-making with audiences in Asia."

"Credit Suisse is proud to support the New York Philharmonic and its ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour as the Orchestra's sole Global Sponsor for seven years," said PamEla Thomas-Graham, Head of Talent, Branding and Communications at Credit Suisse and a member of the bank's Executive Board. "After such an enthusiastic response to the Asian Horizons tour in 2009, we are once again delighted that this year's tour will visit a region so important to Credit Suisse. We are looking forward to the many opportunities available for our clients and employees to experience all that the New York Philharmonic's musicians and Music Director Alan Gilbert have to offer."

The ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour begins with two performances in Seoul, South Korea, at the Seoul Arts Center on February 6 and 7, marking the New York Philharmonic's eleventh trip to that country and the Orchestra's first performance there since 2009, when Alan Gilbert led Asian Horizons, his inaugural tour as Music Director. Following the performances in Seoul, the Orchestra heads to Japan, which it has visited 14 times previously, for concerts at the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater in Nagoya on February 9, The Symphony Hall in Osaka on February 10, three concerts at Suntory Hall in Tokyo February 11-13, and Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama on February 15. The concerts in Tokyo also mark the Philharmonic's first in that city since Mr. Gilbert's debut tour as Music Director in 2009. ASIA / WINTER 2014 concludes with the Orchestra's first visit to Taipei, Taiwan, with Music Director Alan Gilbert, and the seventh in its history, where it performs at the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center on February 18 and 19.

Tour Programs:

The repertoire for ASIA / WINTER 2014 will blend works by American composers, the Philharmonic's current and former Composers-in-Residence, Britten in honor of his centennial year, and canonical masters.

ASIA / WINTER 2014 opens in Seoul with Beethoven's Fidelio Overture - which the Orchestra also performs in Tokyo along with Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 - and his Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring Da Sol. The program concludes with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, which the Orchestra again plays in Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Taipei.

In Tokyo and Taipei, violinist Lisa Batiashvili plays Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Yefim Bronfman, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, performs Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2; the New York Philharmonic commissioned the work, premiered it with Mr. Bronfman in May 2012 in the Orchestra's home at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, and performed it on the CALIFORNIA 2012 tour. Ms. Batiashvili and Mr. Bronfman will have performed these works with the Philharmonic in New York in January 2014.

ASIA / WINTER 2014 showcases a number of American works, including Marie-Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Rapture in Seoul, Nagoya, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Taipei, following performances in New York in January 2014; Gershwin's An American in Paris in Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei; Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Philharmonic Laureate Conductor Leonard Bernstein in Seoul, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Taipei; and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, featuring pianist Makoto Ozone, in Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama.

The New York Philharmonic will perform a special concert for families in Tokyo at Suntory Hall, opening with Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, led by Assistant Conductor Joshua Weilerstein, hosted by Manabu Suzuki, and narrated in Japanese by Music Director Alan Gilbert, whose mother, New York Philharmonic violinist Yoko Takebe, is from Japan. Mr. Suzuki is principal violist of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and he hosted the Philharmonic's Young People's Concert at Suntory Hall during the Philharmonic's 2009 Asian Horizons tour. The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra was written in 1946 for the educational documentary Instruments of the Orchestra. The Britten performance continues the Philharmonic's celebration of the English composer's centennial season, which begins in New York in November with concerts featuring Britten's Spring Symphony and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings.

Educational Activities on ASIA / WINTER 2014 Tour :As part of the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour, the New York Philharmonic will showcase the works of students participating in its Very Young Composers program in both Seoul and Tokyo. Very Young Composers allows students with or without musical backgrounds to create, notate, and hear their own music performed by Philharmonic musicians. The initiative, which began in New York City, is being rolled out in cities throughout the world, often in conjunction with Philharmonic tours.

Selected works by participants in the Very Young Composers of Kumdarak - students ages 10-12 who are participating in the new network of Kumdarak Saturday Cultural Schools across South Korea - will be performed by an ensemble including New York Philharmonic musicians in a free concert February 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. The New York Philharmonic has created the Very Young Composers of Kumdarak in collaboration with the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service (KACES), a government agency affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. The Very Young Composers of Kumdarak are composing works with the help of KACES Teaching Artists who are being trained by New York Philharmonic Teaching Artists in live and online training sessions that began in October.

The concert for families in Tokyo, on February 11 at 6:00 p.m. at Suntory Hall, sponsored by the Sony Music Foundation, will also feature music written by three New York-based students of the Very Young Composers program, ages 11-13. The works were inspired by pieces written by four young composers in Fukushima studying with Professor Takehito Shimazu of Fukushima University, ages 10-15. The students in New York and in Fukushima have been engaged in musical correspondence and cultural exchange.

Artists:

Music Director Alan Gilbert began his New York Philharmonic tenure in September 2009, the first native New Yorker in the post. He and the Philharmonic have introduced the positions of The Marie-Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence and The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in- Residence; CONTACT!, the new-music series; and, beginning in the spring of 2014, the NY PHIL BIENNIAL.

In addition to inaugurating the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, in the 2013-14 season Alan Gilbert conducts Mozart's three final symphonies; the U.S. Premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Frieze coupled with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; four world premieres; an all-Britten program celebrating the composer's centennial; the score from 2001: A Space Odyssey as the film is screened; and a staged production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd starring Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson. He continues The Nielsen Project - the multi-year initiative to perform and record the Danish composer's symphonies and concertos, the first release of which was named by The New York Times as among the Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012 - and presides over the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour. Last season's highlights included Bach's B-minor Mass; Ives's Fourth Symphony; the EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour; and the season-concluding A Dancer's Dream, a multidisciplinary reimagining of Stravinsky's The Fairy's Kiss and Petrushka, created by Giants Are Small and starring New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns.

Mr. Gilbert is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies and holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School. Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra, he regularly conducts leading orchestras around the world. He made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams's Doctor Atomic in 2008, the DVD of which received a Grammy Award. Rene?e Fleming's recent Decca recording Poe?mes, on which he conducted, received a 2013 Grammy Award. His recordings have received top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. In May 2010 Mr. Gilbert received an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music and in December 2011, Columbia University's Ditson Conductor's Award for his "exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers and to contemporary music."

Joshua Weilerstein was named one of the two New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductors in May 2011, shortly after completing his graduate studies in conducting and violin at New England Conservatory. Mr. Weilerstein was named the unanimous winner of the 2009 Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. His first-prize honors included conducting engagements with major Scandinavian orchestras, the first of which was the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in June 2009, marking his professional conducting debut. Since then, he has conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony, Norrko?ping Symphony, Malmo? Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He performed as a violin soloist with the Boston New Music Initiative and as a guest member of A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra. In the 2011-12 season he made debuts with the Toronto Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Finnish Radio Symphony, Northern Sinfonia, and Swedish Chamber orchestras. Highlights of his 2012-13 season included returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as appearances with the BBC Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, and Florida orchestras. Mr. Weilerstein studied with David Zinman at the Aspen Music Festival, where he was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize and the Aspen Conducting Prize. In May 2011 he received dual master of music degrees, in orchestral conducting with Hugh Wolff and in violin with Lucy Chapman. In 2007 the Simo?n Boli?var Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (SBYO) engaged Mr. Weilerstein as a violin soloist. Shortly after this appearance, the SBYO asked him to join the first violin section for the orchestra's 2007 American tour with Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, making Mr. Weilerstein the ensemble's first non-Venezuelan guest member. In January 2010 he made his guest conducting debut with the SBYO. Currently living in New York, he also serves as concertmaster of Discovery Ensemble, a Boston-based chamber orchestra established by young musicians dedicated to bringing music to children through interactive workshops in schools and community concerts.

As the 2013-14 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, Yefim Bronfman plays concertos by composers ranging from Tchaikovsky to Magnus Lindberg; appears in chamber concerts featuring works by Esa- Pekka Salonen, Marc-Andre? Dalbavie, Marc Neikrug, Schubert, Barto?k, and others; travels on the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour, performing Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2; and concludes the season with The Beethoven Piano Concertos: A Philharmonic Festival. Other season highlights include a tour with Pinchas Zukerman to Ottawa, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Berkeley, and Vancouver; Beethoven performances with conductor Zubin Mehta at the Berlin Philharmonic's new spring residency in Baden-Baden; and returns to the orchestras of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Boston, as well as to Paris, Munich, Berlin, and Amsterdam. He tours Australia with Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as part of its worldwide centenary celebrations. Mr. Bronfman was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009 for his recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto (which the New York Philharmonic co-commissioned and premiered with Mr. Bronfman in 2007), with Mr. Salonen conducting (released on Deutsche Grammophon). Previously, he had received a Grammy in 1997 for his recording of the three Barto?k piano concertos with Mr. Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His performance of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto with Andris Nelsons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from the 2011 Lucerne Festival is now available on DVD. His most recent CD release is Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2, commissioned for him and performed by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, on the Dacapo label. Born in Tashkent, in the Soviet Union, in 1958, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973. There he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. He later studied in the United States: at The Juilliard School, the Marlboro Festival, and The Curtis Institute of Music; and with Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. He became an American citizen in July 1989.

During the 2013-14 season, violinist Lisa Batiashvili will appear with the New York Philharmonic on its ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour; tour Europe with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; and perform with The Philadelphia, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, London Philharmonic, and Philharmonia orchestras. She continues her collaboration with pianist Paul Lewis in a series of recitals in Paris, Brussels, and Hamburg, and presents a new Bach ensemble project with oboist Franc?ois Leleux. During the 2012-13 season she held the position of capell-virtuosin with the Dresden Staatskapelle, performing a wide range of concerts (including on a North American tour) led by its principal conductor Christian Thielemann. She was also artist-in-residence with Cologne's WDR Symphony Orchestra, and appeared with the Berlin Staatskapelle, conducted by Daniel Barenboim, at its annual outdoor concert in front of an audience of 38,000. Ms. Batiashvili records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon. Her latest album - featuring Brahms's Violin Concerto with Dresden's Staatskapelle led by Christian Thielemann - was released in January 2013. In 2011 she received an ECHO Klassik award for her debut album on the label, Echoes of Time, which includes Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen. A student of Ana Chumachenko and Mark Lubotski, Ms. Batiashvili gained international recognition at age 16 as the youngest-ever competitor in the Sibelius Competition. She has also been awarded the Beethoven Ring Prize, MIDEM Classical Award, Choc de L'anne?e, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival's Leonard Bernstein Award. Ms. Batiashvili made her New York Philharmonic debut in 2005 performing Chausson's Poe?me, conducted by Lorin Maazel; her most recent appearance was in June 2013 performing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 led by Music Director Alan Gilbert.

Pianist Makoto Ozone taught himself to play the organ while very young, made his first television appearance at six, began performing regularly on Osaka Mainichi Broadcasting, and then, after attending an Oscar Peterson concert at 12, turned his attention towards jazz piano. He moved to the U.S. in 1980 to study at Boston's Berklee College of Music, and graduated at the top of his class in 1983 - the same year he gave a solo recital at Carnegie Hall, became the first Japanese musician to sign an exclusive contract with CBS, and joined vibraphonist Gary Burton's quartet. He has also worked with numerous other jazz artists including Chick Corea and Branford Marsalis, and in 2004, formed the No Name Horses big band. More recently, he has explored classical repertoire with conductors including Charles Dutoit, Thomas Zehetmair, Joseph Swensen, Alexandre Rabinovitch, Arie van Beek, Francois-Xavier Roth, Tadaaki Otaka, Eiji Oue, and Michiyoshi Inoue. He has played Gershwin, Bernstein, Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich with the NDR Sinfonieorchester, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Orchestre d'Auvergne, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the New Japan Philharmonic. He performed and conducted his own piano concerto, Mogami, commissioned by playwright Hisashi Inoue (2003), appeared at the Chopin and His Europe International Festival in Warsaw (2006), with the NDR Sinfonieorchester at the Schleswig- Holstein Festival (2008), and released Road to Chopin (2008). His trio toured Japan with Christian McBride and Jeff "Tain" Watts in 2012, and he toured with Gary Burton to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his world debut in 2013. Albums on Universal include the Grammy-nominated Virtuosi (2002), a charity project for victims of Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Live & Let Live - Love for Japan (2010), and a duo album with Mr. Burton, Time Thread (2013). He hosts a popular jazz music radio program, writes music for theater and TV, and is a professor at the Kunitachi College of Music. This is Mr. Ozone's Philharmonic debut.

Pianist Da Sol makes his New York Philharmonic debut with Alan Gilbert during the Asia 2014 tour. Winner of awards at the Queen Elisabeth, Ge?za Anda, ARD International Music, and other international competitions, the young pianist has appeared with an array of orchestras including the Kammerorchester Berlin, MDR Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zu?rich, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mu?nchen Chamber Orchestra, and Su?dwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, was well as orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout Korea. In the summer of 2011, Da Sol performed in recital at the La Roque d'Anthe?ron Piano Festival and made an appearance at the International Klavierfestival Junger Meister at Lake Constance. Throughout 2013, as artist-in-residence of Korea's Kumho Art Hall, he has been performing a wide range of music over the course of six concerts. Other highlights of his 2013-14 season include a recital at the Association Frederic Chopin Lyon in France, a performance at the Konzerthaus Berlin, and visits to other cities in Europe with the Konzerthausorchester and Michael Sanderling. Da Sol was born in 1989 in Busan, South Korea, and took up the piano at the age of 11, when he started to teach himself by playing along with a recording of Barto?k's Children's Dance. He graduated from Busan High School of Arts, and moved to Germany to continue his studies with Gerald Fauth and Karl-Heinz Ka?mmerling. He is currently living in Hannover and studying with Professor Arie Vardi at the Hochschule fu?r Musik und Theater Hannover.

About the New York Philharmonic Founded in 1842, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest in the world; on May 5, 2010, it performed its 15,000th concert - a milestone unmatched by any other symphony orchestra in the world. The Orchestra has always played a leading role in American musical life, championing the music of its time, and is renowned around the globe, having appeared in 432 cities in 63 countries - including its October 2009 debut in Vietnam and its February 2008 historic visit to Pyongyang, DPRK, earning the 2008 Common Ground Award for Cultural Diplomacy. The Philharmonic's concerts are broadcast on the weekly syndicated radio program The New York Philharmonic This Week, streamed on nyphil.org, and have been telecast annually on Live From Lincoln Center on U.S. public television since the series' premiere in 1976. The Philharmonic has made almost 2,000 recordings since 1917, with more than 500 currently available. The first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, the Philharmonic released the first-ever classical iTunes Pass in 2009-10; the self-produced recordings continue with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2013-14 Season. The Orchestra has built on its long-running Young People's Concerts to develop a wide range of education programs, including Very Young People's Concerts, for pre-schoolers; School Day Concerts, with supporting curriculum for grades 3-12; the School Partnership Program, enriching music education in New York City; Very Young Composers, enabling students to express themselves through original works; Learning Overtures, fostering international exchange among educators; and online resources used in homes and classrooms around the world. Alan Gilbert became Music Director in September 2009, succeeding a series of 20th-century musical giants that goes back to Gustav Mahler and Arturo Toscanini. Credit Suisse is the New York Philharmonic's exclusive Global Sponsor.

ASIA / WINTER 2014 - Alan Gilbert AND THE New York Philharmonic Concert Schedule: