Chick Corea Joins Lang Lang as Featured Soloists for Carnegie Hall's Opening Night

Carnegie Hall today announced that legendary jazz artist Chick Corea will join world-renowned pianist Lang Lang as featured soloists at Carnegie Hall's Opening Night Gala concert on Wednesday, October 4 at 7:00 p.m.

Lang Lang and Corea will perform a two-piano arrangement of Gershwin's jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue, collaborating with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Also performing at the keyboard with Lang Lang in the Gershwin will be 14-year-old American pianist Maxim Lando, an accomplished alumnus of the Lang Lang Foundation's Young Scholars Program. Lando is delighted to join this special musical occasion, partnering with Lang Lang who continues his recovery from an inflammation in his left arm.

"I've invited some friends to help present this piece in a very special way," said Lang Lang. "With the artistry of the legendary Chick Corea and the exciting young talent Maxim Lando, we hope to delight the audience and take a little pressure off my left arm while it continues to heal."

"I'm thrilled to be invited by Lang Lang to this very special Opening Night at Carnegie Hall. I have great admiration for Lang Lang's artistry and humanity. I'm also looking forward to the pleasure of working with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra," said Chick Corea. "I learned to love Gershwin's music through the renditions of MiLes Davis and the Gil Evans Orchestra. Now to be playing his great composition Rhapsody in Blue for the first time-and in such wonderful company in this beautiful hall is a little dream like."

Maestro Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra launch Carnegie Hall's 2017-2018 season with this festive performance, marking the centenary of Leonard Bernstein's birth, with a program to include Bernstein's On the Waterfront Symphonic Suite and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. As part of the worldwide 100th anniversary celebrations of Bernstein's birth, Carnegie Hall will present a number of concerts this season that showcase the vast scope of his musical genius, culminating with a performance of his hilarious and thought-provoking musical, Candide, in April 2018.

The October 4 Opening Night performance also kicks off the seventh annual Carnegie Hall Live broadcast and digital series with a live broadcast on WQXR 105.9 FM in New York and streamed online at wqxr.org and carnegiehall.org/wqxr. Produced by WQXR and Carnegie Hall, and hosted by WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon, select Carnegie Hall Live broadcasts throughout the season feature live web chats, including Twitter commentary from the broadcast team, from backstage and in the control room, connecting national and international fans to the music and to each other.

Mercedes T. Bass and Hope and Robert F. Smith are the Opening Night Gala Lead Chairman for the black tie event on October 4. The Gala Chairmen Committee includes Len and Emily Blavatnik, Aisha and Gbenga Oyebode, Annette de la Renta, Sana H. Sabbagh, Beatrice Santo Domingo, David M. Siegel and Dana Matsushita, Margaret and Ian Smith, and Joan and Sanford I. Weill. PwC is the Opening Night Gala Lead Sponsor for the 14th consecutive season, and Dennis M. Nally, retired chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd., is the event's corporate chairman.

The Opening Night Gala benefits Carnegie Hall's artistic and education programs and includes either a pre-concert cocktail reception in Carnegie Hall's Rohatyn Room or a post-concert Gala Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street. Gala benefit tickets are available by calling 212-903-9679 or online at carnegiehall.org/OpeningNightGala A limited number of concert-only tickets, priced $68-$225, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or online at carnegiehall.org.

Following this Opening Night concert, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra return to Carnegie Hall for three additional performances this season. The Philadelphian's next concert on December 8 features The New York premiere of Thomas Adès's Powder Her Face Suite (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall as part of its 125 Commissions Project); Bernstein's Serenade (After Plato's Symposium) featuring violinist Hilary Hahn; and Sibelius's Symphony No. 1.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

A Downbeat Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master, 22-time Grammy Award winner, and keyboard virtuoso, Chick Corea has attained living legend status after five decades of unparalleled creativity and an artistic output that is simply staggering. Corea is the fourth most-nominated artist in the history of the Grammy Awards, with 63 nominations. He has also earned three Latin Grammy Awards, the most of any artist in the Best Instrumental Album category. From straight ahead jazz to avant-garde, bebop to fusion, children's songs to chamber music, along with some far-reaching forays into symphonic works, Corea has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his illustrious career while maintaining a standard of excellence that is awe-inspiring. A tirelessly creative spirit, he continues to forge ahead, continually reinventing himself in the process.

As a celebrated pianist, educator, philanthropist, and influential ambassador for the arts, Lang Lang has fully embraced new technology and innovation, leading the way in bringing classical music into the 21st century. Heralded by The New York Times as "the hottest artist on the classical music planet," Lang Lang has performed with the world's top orchestras and played sold-out concerts in the major concert halls of every continent in the world, including the Vatican where he performed for Pope Francis. His performances at the Grammy Awards with Metallica, Pharrell Williams or jazz legend Herbie Hancock, a two-piano version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, were hailed by millions of viewers. Lang Lang has appeared in Time magazine's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, was presented with the 2010 Crystal Award in Davos and picked as one of the 250 "Young Global Leaders" by the World Economic Forum. More than four billion people viewed his performance during the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, where he was viewed as a symbol of the youth and the future of China. This status inspired over 40 million Chinese children to learn to play classical piano-a phenomenon that has inspired what The Today Show referred to as "the Lang Lang effect." In 2008, he founded the "Lang Lang International Music Foundation" aimed at cultivating tomorrow's top pianists, championing music education at the forefront of technology, and building a young audience through live music experiences. In 2013, Lang Lang was designated by the Secretary General of the United Nations as a "Messenger of Peace" focusing on global education. He also currently serves on the Weill Music Institute Advisory Committee and is the youngest member of Carnegie Hall's Artistic Advisory Board.

Fourteen-year-old American pianist Maxim Lando's concerts and collaborations have recently brought him to the international stage, with invitations to perform spanning from across the globe. Lando is a Golden Medal winner of the 2017 Berliner International Music Competition, and received the 2016 Audience Prize at Carnegie Hall from the Musical Olympus Foundation. In 2015, he was the first American ever awarded the Gold Prize at the International Television Contest "Nutcracker" for Young Musicians in Moscow. Lando was awarded Second Prize at the 2015 Kissinger Klavier Olymp in Germany, and, in 2014, he won the Juilliard Pre-College Concerto Competition, resulting in a performance of Schumann Piano Concerto at Lincoln Center. He has performed with numerous orchestras including Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Dedicated to making classical music accessible to his own generation, Lando has been featured performing on CNN's Best of Quest, NPR's From the Top, Bavarian Radio's On Stage, Russian TV-Kultura, CNC News, as well as television talk shows in Italy, Armenia, and Kazakhstan. He has performed on numerous occasions with Lang Lang. He is an Artemisia Akademie Fellow at Yale University, an alumnus of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, and a student of Hung-Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone at Juilliard Pre-College.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin recently confirmed that he will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra for a decade into the future, through the 2025-2026 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he will become the third music director in the history of the Metropolitan Opera, beginning with the 2021-2022 season, and from 2017-2018 will be music director designate, consolidating Mr. Nézet-Séguin's professional activity around two of the world's pre-eminent artistic organizations, concentrating and honing his musical future.

Mr. Nézet-Séguin has taken The Philadelphia Orchestra to new musical heights in performances at home in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, at the Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, in Philadelphia neighborhoods, and around the world. His concerts of diverse repertoire attract sold-out houses, and he continues to make connections within Philadelphia's rich arts community, showing his commitment to engaging music lovers of all ages across the region. Highlights of his sixth season as music director include a year-long celebration of the centenary of Leonard Bernstein's birth; music from and inspired by the British Isles in a three-week festival; and the continuation of a focus on opera and sacred vocal works, including Puccini's Tosca and Haydn's The Seasons. Mr. Nézet-Séguin is embraced by the musicians of the orchestra and by audiences wherever they perform. He made his inaugural tour with The Philadelphia Orchestra with the 2014 tour of Asia, and the following year he took the orchestra on their first European tour together, during which the Guardian of London exclaimed, "... it's proving a remarkable partnership." In September 2015, he led the orchestra in two performances for Pope Francis as part of the World Meeting of Families, at the Festival of Families and the Papal Mass. And, in 2016 and 2017, he and the orchestra returned to Asia.

A native of Montreal, Mr. Nézet-Séguin 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. Mr. Nézet-Séguin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2012, one of the country's highest civilian honors, and an Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2015. His other honors include Musical America's 2016 Artist of the Year; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada's National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts awarded by the Quebec government; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ.

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 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.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, The Philadelphia Orchestra today boasts new partnerships with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the Shanghai Media Group. The ensemble annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, while also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Vail, Colorado.

The Philadelphia Orchestra serves as a catalyst for cultural activity across Philadelphia's many communities, as it builds an offstage presence as strong as its onstage one. With Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated body of musicians, and one of the nation's richest arts ecosystems, the orchestra has launched its HEAR initiative to become a major force for good in every community that it serves. HEAR is a portfolio of integrated initiatives that promotes Health, champions music Education, eliminates barriers to Accessing the orchestra, and maximizes impact through Research. These projects support those experiencing trauma such as homelessness; thousands of public school students; citizens of Philadelphia who will have opportunities to experience the orchestra personally; and those not connected with the orchestra or symphonic music, bridging all ages and backgrounds. The orchestra's award-winning Collaborative Learning initiatives 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.

Program Information:

Wednesday, October 4, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

Carnegie Hall OPENING NIGHT GALA

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director and Conductor
Lang Lang, Piano
Chick Corea, Piano
with
Maxim Lando, Piano

Leonard Bernstein On the Waterfront Symphonic Suite
George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Leonard Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Gala Benefit tickets-priced at $1500, $3000, and $6000, and -include concert seating and the post-concert dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street. Tickets priced at $1000 include the concert and a pre-concert cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. in Carnegie Hall's Rohatyn Room. All gala benefit tickets are available by calling the Carnegie Hall Special Events office at 212-903-9679 or online at carnegiehall.org/openingnightgala.

A limited number of Opening Night concert-only tickets-priced at $68 to $225-are now available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or online at carnegiehall.org.