American Symphony Orchestra to Perform Elgar's 'The Apostles' at Carnegie Hall for Season Finale

American Symphony Orchestra presents Elgar's oratorio The Apostles on Friday, May 12, 2017, the final performance of its four-concert series at Carnegie Hall this season. Music director Leon Botstein will lead the Orchestra and the Bard Festival Chorale in Elgar's magnificent and rarely-heard choral work.

The Apostles follows the story of the twelve Apostles through the Resurrection in a moving and unique setting of the New Testament. Often called England's greatest composer since Purcell, Elgar initially designed The Apostles as the first part in a trilogy of oratorios that would span the calling of the Apostles through the founding of the Early Church and conclude with the Last Judgment. This massive project, clearly evocative of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, was never fully completed and only two out of three oratorios materialized: The Apostles and its sequel The Kingdom. The Apostles is, with The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar's most monumental masterpiece for chorus and orchestra.

Free to all ticket holders at 7 pm, Leon Botstein will share the stories behind the music in a lively 30-minute Conductor's Notes Q&A session offering context on the program. This concert is supported in part by the Elgar Society.

The Apostles

Fri, May 12, 2017 at 8 pm, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

Conductor's Notes Q&A at 7 pm

American Symphony Orchestra

Leon Botstein, conductor
Bard Festival Chorale

James Bagwell, director

Jennifer Check, soprano
Sara Murphy, mezzo-soprano
Paul McNamara, tenor
Joseph Beutel, AlFRed Walker and Adrian Rosas, bass-baritones

Elgar: The Apostles

Tickets: Tickets, priced at $29, $39, $54, are available at CarnegieHall.org, at the Carnegie box office, or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. The Conductor's Notes Q&A at 7 pm in Stern Auditorium is free with a concert ticket.

American Symphony Orchestra

Now in its 55th season, the American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski with a mission of making orchestral music accessible and affordable for everyone. Music director Leon Botstein expanded that mission when he joined the ASO in 1992, creating thematic concerts that explore music from the perspective of the visual arts, literature, religion, and history, and reviving rarely-performed works audiences would otherwise seldom hear performed live.

The Orchestra has made several tours of Asia and Europe, and performed in countless benefits for organizations including the Jerusalem Foundation and PBS. Many of the world's most accomplished soloists have performed with the ASO, including Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, Deborah Voigt, and Sarah Chang. The Orchestra has released several recordings on the Telarc, New World, Bridge, Koch, and Vanguard labels, and numerous live performances are also available for digital download. In many cases, these are the only recordings of some of the rare works that have been rediscovered in ASO performances.

Leon Botstein

Leon Botstein has been music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra since 1992. He is also music director of The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra composed of top musicians from around the world. He is co-artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, which take place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where he has been president since 1975. He is also conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director from 2003-11. In 2018 he will assume artistic directorship at Grafenegg, Austria. Mr. Botstein also has an active career as a guest conductor with orchestras around the globe, and has made numerous recordings, as well as being a prolific author and music historian. He is the recipient of numerous honors for his contributions to the music industry.

For more information, please visit americansymphony.org.