Conductor Daniel Harding To Make New York Philharmonic Debut 3/3

Conductor Daniel Harding will make his debut performance with the New York Philharmonic on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 PM at Avery Fisher Hall, with additional concerts on Friday, March 4 at 2:00 PM and Saturday, March 5 at 8:00 PM. Mr. Harding, who has been described by the New York Times as "one of the consequential artists of his generation," will lead the ensemble in Mahler's Symphony No. 4, with soprano Lisa Milne singing Das himmlische Leben, a ‘Humoresque' for voice and orchestra which serves as the symphony's culminating fourth movement. The program will also feature concertmaster Glenn Dicterow in a performance of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, a work marked by the composer's unique musical language which spans late Romanticism, impressionism, and polytonality.

One hour before each concert, Arbie Orenstein, Professor of Music at Queens College, will introduce the program with a pre-concert talk in the Helen Huntington Hull Room at Avery Fisher Hall.

Concert tickets range from $30 to $117; tickets for the open rehearsal to be held on Thursday, March 3, at 9:45 a.m. are $18; and tickets for each pre-concert talk are $7. For tickets and more information, please call 212-875-5656, visit the Avery Fisher Hall box office, or log on to www.nyphil.org .

Mr. Harding's debut with the New York Philharmonic will mark his second visit to the city in the 2010-11 season, having led the Dresden Staatskapelle in two concerts at Avery Fisher Hall in October and November as part of an 8-city U.S. tour. Following these performances, the New York Times wrote, "Mr. Harding was at his best in [Beethoven's] Seventh Symphony, drawing a fresh, lucid and organic performance from the orchestra. He set a fleet tempo in the dancing finale that The Players brought off with vigor and command. For me there was something spiritual about this bit of bravado." Mr. Harding also returns to La Scala this season to conduct a new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, a performance of which was broadcast live to New York's Symphony Space on January 20. Other highlights of his season include conducting the 2011 New Year's Concerts at Teatro la Fenice in Venice, and performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Vienna Philharmonic.

Daniel Harding is the Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Partner of the New Japan Philharmonic. Mr. Harding makes regular guest appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In addition to his engagements at La Scala, Mr. Harding has conducted performances at the Royal Opera House, Theater an der Wien, and the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence Festivals. An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, his discs for the label include the recently released Carmina Burana with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, and Mahler's Tenth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Mr. Harding began his career assisting Sir Simon Rattle at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with which he made his professional debut in 1994. He also assisted Claudio Abbado at the Berlin Philharmonic and made his debut with the orchestra at the 1996 Berlin Festival. In 2002 he was awarded the title Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.