KRAFT To Be Broadcast On THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC THIS WEEK

In the third week of November, The New York Philharmonic This Week - the two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - will broadcast the New York Premiere of Kraft, the groundbreaking, theatrical work by Magnus Lindberg, the Philharmonic's Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence. Conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, this piece employs a large orchestra with unusual percussion instruments, including bongos, congas, alm glocken, tamtam, sleigh bells, vibraphone, whip, crotales, claves, bamboo chimes, ping pong balls, a lion's roar, and live electronics. Mr. Lindberg will play one of two pianos onstage, with the lid removed so that he can use elements from inside the instrument. Soloists will play percussion instruments made from items found in a local junkyard.

The broadcast, which draws from performances at Avery Fisher Hall taking place October 7-8 and 12, will also include Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Sibelius's Violin Concerto, with Joshua Bell as soloist.

The New York Philharmonic This Week, which began in 2004 and is syndicated nationally by the WFMT Radio Network, has been awarded a Bronze World Medal in the category of "Best Announcer Presentation" from the 2010 New York Festivals Radio Programs & Promotions Awards. The series airs locally in the New York metropolitan area on Classical 105.9 FM WQXR, Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. [Check local listings]. Concerts are available on the Philharmonic's Website, nyphil.org, for two weeks following the broadcast. The broadcasts are produced and syndicated to more than 300 outlets nationwide by the WFMT Radio Network. Alec Baldwin is the host of the program, WFMT's Mark Travis is the broadcast producer, and New York Philharmonic Audio Director Lawrence Rock is the engineer and music producer.

The November broadcasts also include two programs that are part of a month-long tribute to former Music Director Dimitri Mitropoulos, commemorating the 50th The New York Philharmonic This Week November 2010 anniversary of his death, sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The first broadcast, airing the first week of November, includes Four Greek Dances by Nikos Skalkottas (recorded 1956); Morton Gould's Fall River Legend (recorded 1952); Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, played and conducted by Mitropoulos (recorded 1949); and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 (recorded 1954). Also part of the Mitropoulos tribute, in the fourth November broadcast, Music Director Alan Gilbert leads the Philharmonic in Mendelssohn's Elijah, with soprano Carolyn Sampson (Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, tenor Allan Clayton (debut), bass-baritone Gerald Finley, and the New York Choral Artists.

For the second week of November, Mr. Gilbert leads the Orchestra in Webern's Passacaglia, Op. 1, as well as two works by Brahms: the Violin Concerto, with Pinchas Zukerman as soloist, and the Symphony No. 4. The November broadcasts conclude with performances of Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 3, and 5, performed and conducted by Anne-Sophie Mutter, the 2010-11 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, who will also be the soloist the World Premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Lichtes Spiel. This work will be conducted by Michael Francis in his Philharmonic debut.

The New York Philharmonic's first Live National radio broadcast took place on October 5, 1930, over the CBS radio network. On that Sunday, Erich Kleiber was on the podium
leading the Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Since that historic broadcast, the Philharmonic has enjoyed an almost continuous presence on national radio. Advancing its role as a media pioneer, the Philharmonic, since 2002, has shared its radio broadcast with a worldwide audience through its Website, nyphil.org. In 2004, the New York Philharmonic was the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live. In 2009 the Orchestra announced the first subscription download series: Alan Gilbert: The Inaugural Season, available exclusively on iTunes, produced and distributed by the New York Philharmonic, and comprising more than 50 works performed during the 2009-10 season.

The New York Philharmonic This Week is generously underwritten by The Kaplen Foundation, the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Philharmonic's corporate partner, MetLife Foundation.