Orpheus Chamber Orchestra continues its 41st season at Carnegie Hall with their second of four concerts by revisiting the Classical and Baroque repertoire that launched the ensemble four decades ago. Having never performed Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with a soloist outside the ensemble, Orpheus will be joined by clarinetist Martin Fröst who is the winner of the 2014 Léonie Sonning Music Prize. The concert will also include a performance of Irving Fine's Serious Song in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth, as well as Mozart's Symphony No. 29 in A Major, and Handel's Concerto Grosso in F Major, Op. 6, No. 2. The performance will take place at Stern Auditorium's Perelman Stage in Carnegie Hall tonight, December 7 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at www.carnegiehall.org.
This program explores the music that has shaped Orpheus' history as the ensemble has performed in New York every year since 1974. Orpheus recorded Handel's Concerto Grosso for Deutsche Grammophon in 1996, and recorded Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with one of its own former members, Charles Neidich, for DG in 1989. Fine's Serious Song emulates the Baroque era as a modern lament for strings as his centenary approaches on December 3, 2014.
Mr. Fröst makes his debut with Orpheus in conjunction with the release of his all-Mozart album on the BIS label featuring Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Fröst also performs the Mozart Concerto in his debuts with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. On tour, he performs the concerto with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Camerata Salzburg, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Other upcoming highlights include Fröst's debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Bamberger Symphoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony and Washington's National Symphony Orchestra. He will also be Artist in Residence at the Gothenburg Symphony, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and London's Wigmore Hall. Dedicated to expanding the repertoire for the clarinet, Mr. Fröst has championed Anders Hillborg's Peacock Tales (which incorporates elements of mine and dance), Kalevi Aho's Concerto (commissioned for him by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust) and Rolf Martinsson's Concerto Fantastique. 2014 marks the 10th season of Vinterfest in Mora, Sweden, of which Martin Fröst is Artistic Director. He also holds the post of Artistic Director of the International Chamber Music Festival in Stavanger, Norway.
Orpheus is recognized for being the first ensemble of its kind to institute democratic leadership, not only by holding open forum rehearsals and rotating concertmasters for each piece but also for its rotating election of artistic leaders. This season Orpheus' change in leadership included violinist
Laura Frautschi and violist Dov Scheindlin, who joined cellist Jonathan Spitz as artistic directors on September 1, 2013.
Orpheus' Executive Director, Krishna Thiagarajan, is currently in his first full season with the orchestra. Since beginning with Orpheus in January 2013, the orchestra's season has grown to 36 concerts during 2013-14. In an effort to enhance Orpheus' reputation as an internationally touring orchestra, Dr. Thiagarajan is working to expand Orpheus' international presence by working with new presenters in Europe and Asia for tours and performance opportunities.
Upcoming soloists for the Carnegie season include pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Orpheus will be in residency at the Cartagena Festival Internacional de Música in Colombia in January and embark on a major international tour with Mr. Tsujii to Japan for a ten-concert tour in February. During a five-concert domestic tour, Orpheus will perform with Japanese-American violinist Ryu Goto.
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has over its 41-year history revolutionized how audiences think about classical music and orchestral leadership. By abandoning traditional hierarchies, Orpheus conforms to a democratic model holding rehearsals that encourage artistic discussion, rotating seating assignments for each piece, and performing works from the classical to contemporary without a conductor. The orchestra has recorded over 70 albums including the Grammy Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures, and to date has commissioned and premiered more than 40 original works. In addition to its annual concert series at
Carnegie Hall, Orpheus has established an international reputation with tours to Europe, Asia, and South America. The ensemble has trademarked its signature mode of operation with the Orpheus Institute, founded in 2003 to educate the next generation of musical entrepreneurs with recent residencies at the University of Maryland, University of Connecticut, Dartmouth College, and the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Orpheus' educational outreach Access Orpheus program provides free learning opportunities for thousands of New York City public school students each year. Schools in each of the five boroughs receive free classroom visits from Orpheus musicians, as well as free tickets and educational material for each of Orpheus'
Carnegie Hall concerts. Students are also invited to attend Orpheus' open forum rehearsals. For more information, visit
www.orpheusnyc.com.
