Jörg Widmann Kicks Off Carnegie Hall Residency With The Cleveland Orchestra, October 4

This fall, composer, conductor, and clarinetist Jörg Widmann begins his season-long residency as holder of the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair, which showcases his musical versatility and imaginative vision. The residency kicks off on Friday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with Franz Welser-Möst leading The Cleveland Orchestra, joined by pianist Yefim Bronfman as soloist, in a program that features Widmann's Trauermarsch.

"It is with a sense of great joy that I approach my 'composer in residence' season at Carnegie Hall," Mr. Widmann said. "And I believe moreover in a famous quote attributed to Gustav Mahler: 'Tradition is not worshipping the ashes, but carrying the flame onwards.' This, then, was the point of departure for our programs: may there be a cross-pollination between contemporary works and traditional pieces in the hope that listeners will experience revelatory combinations and intimacies not previously undergone. I am so much looking forward to this meeting of minds, of repertoires, of artist colleagues, and of audiences in this, one of the world's most legendary temples of music."

Mr. Widmann's orchestral work is again on display in a performance of his Con Brio as Valery Gergiev conducts the Munich Philharmonic on Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. This concert will be broadcast live on WQXR 105.9 FM in New York as part of the Carnegie Hall Live broadcast and digital series, also heard by listeners worldwide via wqxr.org and carnegiehall.org/wqxr. Produced by WQXR and Carnegie Hall and co-hosted by WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon and Clemency Burton-Hill, select Carnegie Hall Live broadcasts featured throughout the season include special digital access to the broadcast team from backstage and in the control room, connecting national and international fans to the music and to each other.

On Monday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall, Mr. Widmann leads the first of two talks in The Widmann Lectures: On Dissonance and Beauty. A passionate and eloquent speaker, Mr. Widmann discusses his thoughts about music past, present, and future. The next night, on Tuesday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall, he plays triple duty with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, leading the ICO in his Versuch über die Fuge, featuring soprano Claron McFadden, and joining the ICO on clarinet for Weber's Clarinet Quintet, Op. 34. The program also includes Mr. Widmann's 180 beats per minute and works by Mendelssohn and Mozart.

In a major highlight of the series, Mr. Widmann returns on Tuesday, January 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall for an all-Jörg Widmann program with the International Contemporary Ensemble in which he again plays triple duty as composer and conductor, while joining on clarinet for Three Shadow Dances for Solo Clarinet.

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter presents the New York premiere of Mr. Widmann's sixth string quartet, Study on Beethoven, on Thursday, January 30 at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. She is joined on stage for the performance by an all-star ensemble including violinist Ye-Eun Choi, violist Vladimir Babeshko, and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott.

About the Artists
Jörg Widmann is one of the most versatile and intriguing artists of his generation. He will appear with orchestras such as Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, WDR Sinfonieorchester and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and has recently appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; SWR Symphonieorchester; and Orchestre de Paris. In the 2018-2019 season Mr. Widmann was the first Gewandhaus Composer, and was commissioned by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra to compose a new work, Partita, which premiered in Leipzig in March 2018 and was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage the following month-both conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Chamber music performances in the current season include recitals with Mitsuko Uchida, Antoine Tamestit and a trio recital at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall with Tabea Zimmermann and Dénes Várjon. During past seasons, performances included a tour with the Hagen Quartet with Mr. Widmann's new Clarinet Quintet in Paris, Lugano, Amsterdam, Essen, Berlin, London, and Salzburg, as well as Zankel Hall in March 2019. Among his regular chamber music partners are renowned soloists such as Sir András Schiff and Elisabeth Leonskaja.

As a conductor, Mr. Widmann performs this season with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Hessisches Staatsorchester and as their principal conductor, he leads the Irish Chamber Orchestra in concerts in Ireland, Europe, and on a tour to the US with concerts at Carnegie Hall and Washington D.C.'s Library of Congress, amongst others.

Mr. Widmann was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin, is a full member of the Bayerische Akademie of Schönen Künste, and, since 2007, the Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg, the Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste, and the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz. Recently, he was awarded the Robert Schumann Prize for Poetry and Music. He is professor for composition at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.

Program Information
Friday, October 4, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director and Conductor
Yefim Bronfman, Piano

JÖRG WIDMANN Trauermarsch
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor

Tickets: $39-$130
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Saturday, October 26, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
MUNICH PHILHARMONIC
Valery Gergiev, Music Director and Conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, Violin

JÖRG WIDMANN Con brio
JOHANNES BRAHMS Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47

Sponsored by Breguet, Exclusive Timepiece of Carnegie Hall

The Munich Philharmonic residency with Valery Gergiev at Carnegie Hall is made possible by a leadership gift from Mrs. Veronica Atkins.

Tickets: $42-$138
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Monday, November 18, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
Weill Recital Hall
THE WIDMANN LECTURES: ON DISSONANCE AND BEAUTY
Jörg Widmann, Speaker

REFLECTIONS ON MUSIC OF THE PRESENT AND THE PAST

Tickets: $25
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Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Jörg Widmann, Principal Conductor and Clarinet
Claron McFadden, Soprano

Felix Mendelssohn Sinfonia No. 8 in D Major
JÖRG WIDMANN Versuch über die Fuge
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K. 546
JÖRG WIDMANN 180 beats per minute
CARL MARIA VON WEBER Clarinet Quintet, Op. 34

Tickets: $35, $45
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Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
JÖRG WIDMANN
Jörg Widmann, Conductor and Clarinet

ALL-JÖRG WIDMANN PROGRAM

Liebeslied for Eight Instruments
Air for Solo Horn
Etude No. 2 for Solo Violin
Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Piano
Three Shadow Dances for Solo Clarinet
Freie Stücke (Free Pieces)

Tickets: $35, $45
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Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER AND FRIENDS
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Violin
Ye-Eun Choi, Violin
Vladimir Babeshko, Viola
Daniel Müller-Schott, Cello
Lambert Orkis, Piano

JÖRG WIDMANN Study on Beethoven (6th String Quartet) (NY Premiere)
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24, "Spring"
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, "Ghost"
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47, "Kreutzer"

Lead support for the Beethoven Celebration is provided by The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund.

Tickets: $41-$135

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