Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival 2017 Announces Opening Lineup
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 22, 2017
Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival , one of New York's premier summer performance series, kicks off its 51st season on July 25. Among the highlights in the first two weeks are a special opening concert led by Louis Langrée, Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director, featuring traditional and indigenous songs from Mozart's time; a choral presentation by Les Arts Florissants; and guest conductors Edward Gardner and Gianandrea Noseda; festival debuts by more than 10 artists, including Kit Armstrong, Janai Brugger, Jennifer Johnson Cano, S? Percussion, Beatrice Rana, Ksenija Sidorova, and the Young People's Chorus of New York City; and the New York premiere of David Lang's concerto for percussion, man made. A complete listing of events from July 25 through August 6 follows.
THE SINGING HEARTSpecial opening-night presentation
Tuesday, July 25, 8:00 pm
Wednesday, July 26, 7:30 pm
David Geffen Hall Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conductor
Kit Armstrong, piano (Mostly Mozart debut)
Janai Brugger, soprano (Mostly Mozart debut)
Brandie Sutton, soprano (Mostly Mozart debut)
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano (Mostly Mozart debut)
Jack Swanson, tenor (Mostly Mozart debut)
Miles Mykkanen, tenor (Mostly Mozart debut)
Adam Lau, bass (Mostly Mozart debut)
Young People's Chorus of New York City (Mostly Mozart debut)
Francisco J. Núñez, artistic director (Mostly Mozart debut)
Concert Chorale of New York
James Bagwell, choral director
MOZART: Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner")
Traditional and indigenous Songs
BEETHOVEN: Choral Fantasy
The Young People's Chorus of New York City makes its festival debut in a vibrant program that will juxtapose Mozart's Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner") with traditional songs and spirituals from Mozart's time. The evening will culminate in Beethoven's glorious Choral Fantasy, featuring the phenomenal pianist Kit Armstrong in his first appearance at the festival.
Thursday, July 27, 7:30 pm
Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater, Adrienne Arsht stage Paul Agnew, conductor
All works by Charpentier
Nuptial sacrae
Tristis est anima mea
Transfige dulcissime Jesu
Victimae pascali laudes
The Renunciation of Saint Peter
Father Bernard's Prayer to the Virgin
Stabat Mater
Prélude
O crux spes unica
Dialogue Between Mary Magdalene and Jesus
Joyous Song of Eastertide
The sacred choral works of 17th-century French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier fill this profoundly spiritual program, performed by the extraordinary period ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Paul Agnew leads the performance, setting rarely played gems alongside some of Charpentier's best-known works.
Friday, July 28, and Saturday, July 29, 7:30 pm
David Geffen Hall Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor
Jeremy Denk, piano
MOZART: Masonic Funeral Music in C minor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major
Conductor Edward Gardner kicks off the festival's celebration of the work of Franz Schubert, leading with the composer's Fifth Symphony. Earlier in the program he is joined by the "irrepressibly charismatic" pianist Jeremy Denk (TheNew York Times) for Beethoven's searching Piano Concerto No. 4.
Sunday, July 30, 3:00 pm
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse Three leading scholars-Alyson McLamore (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), Adeline Mueller (Mt. Holyoke College), and Edmund Goehring (University of Western Ontario)-examine the early years of one of history's most famous prodigies in a 90-minute talk, presented in association with the Mozart Society of America. MOZART, LANG, AND LULLY
Tuesday, August 1, and Wednesday, August 2, 7:30 pm
David Geffen Hall Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conductor
S? Percussion (Mostly Mozart debut) MOZART: Overture to Die Entführung aus dem Serail
LANG: man made (New York premiere)
LULLY: Selections from Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D major ("Paris") Innovative New York-based ensemble S? Percussion joins the Festival Orchestra for this program. David Lang's concerto for percussion, calling for found objects such as sticks and wine bottles, highlights the prominence of percussion in Mozart's Turkish-themed overture, his "Paris" Symphony, and Lully's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Pre-concert talk: Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang and WNYC host John Schaefer discuss Lang's piece man made on Tuesday, August 1, at 6:15 pm in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: S? PERCUSSION
August 2, 10:00 pm
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
CAGE: Living Room Music
VIET CUONG: Water, Wine, Brandy, Brine
CAROLINE SHAW: Taxidermy
CAGE: Credo in US
The percussion ensemble transforms household objects into vehicles of virtuosity in works by composers John Cage, Viet Cuong, and Caroline Shaw.
August 4 and 5, 7:30 pm
David Geffen Hall Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Beatrice Rana, piano (New York debut) BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9 in C major ("Great") Award-winning Italian pianist Beatrice Rana makes her highly anticipated New York debut with returning guest conductor Gianandrea Noseda. Hailed as "exhilarating, extroverted, and effortlessly virtuosic" by BBC Music Magazine, Rana will perform Beethoven's energetic First Piano Concerto. Schubert's "Great" Symphony, which quotes Beethoven's Ninth, follows. Pre-concert recital: Beatrice Rana performs Bach's Partita No. 2 in C minor. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: KSENIJA SIDOROVA, ACCORDION
Mostly Mozart debut
August 5, 10:00 pm
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
LONDONOV: Scherzo-Toccata
MOZART: Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, maman," K. 265
KUSYAKOV: Autumnal Sceneries
RACHMANINOFF: Barcarolle, Op. 10, No. 3
VOITENKO: Revelation
PIAZZOLLA: S.V.P.
PIAZZOLLA: Tanti Anni Prima
PIAZZOLLA: Sentido Unico
A torchbearer of the solo accordion, Latvian virtuoso Ksenija Sidorova shows off the amazing range of the instrument in works by Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Piazzolla, and others.
THE GREATEST SORROW
August 6, 1:00 pm
Walter Reade Theater
Christopher Nupen, director This award-winning musical documentary by Christopher Nupen from 1994 paints a vivid portrait of the final 20 months of Schubert's life, a particularly prolific and astonishingly creative period for the composer, through excerpts from his diaries and letters, along with performances by pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, baritone Andreas Schmidt, and others. TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased online at MostlyMozart.org, by phone via CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or in person by visiting the David Geffen Hall or Alice Tully Hall Box Office. BIOS YOUNG PEOPLE'S CHORUS OF NEW YORK CITY
Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC) is internationally renowned for its superb virtuosity and brilliant showmanship, and for acting as a model for an inclusive society that is being replicated globally. Founded in 1988 by artistic director Francisco J. Núñez, a MacArthur Fellow, YPC harnesses the power of music to fulfill children's potential, musically, academically, and socially, and has heightened the awareness of young people's ability to rise to great levels of artistry. YPC performs on four continents, and its repertoire spans Renaissance and Classical traditions through gospel, folk, pop, contemporary, and world music. YPC has extended and invigorated the repertoire for young voices by commissioning more than 100 pieces of new music, the majority through its Transient Glory and Radio Radiance series. More than 1,600 children participate in the after-school and in-school programs of YPC, which have been recognized with a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the country's highest honor for youth programs.
FRANCISCO J. NÚÑEZ
Francisco J. Núñez, a MacArthur Fellow, is a composer, conductor, visionary, leading figure in music education, and the artistic director/founder of the Young People's Chorus of New York City. He leads the University Glee Club of New York City, as its fifth conductor since the all-men's chorus was established in 1894, and is sought after nationwide as a guest conductor, master teacher, and frequent keynote speaker. In addition to composing his own works, Núñez writes arrangements in all musical formats and styles for choirs, orchestras, and solo instruments. He has received an ASCAP Victor Herbert Award, the New York Choral Society's Choral Excellence Award, and was profiled as ABC-TV's "Person of the Week." NYU Steinhardt honored him with its Distinguished Alumnus Achievement Award, and last season he was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Ithaca College.
Born in Los Angeles in 1992, Kit Armstrong is a classical pianist and composer. He started composing at the age of five and shortly after that began piano studies. Armstrong studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. At the age of seven, he started studying natural sciences at various universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and Imperial College London. He earned his master's degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI. At the age of 13, Armstrong came to know Alfred Brendel, who since then has guided him as his teacher and mentor and ascribes to him "an understanding of the great piano works that combines freshness and subtlety, emotion and intellect." CONCERT CHORALE OF NEW YORK
The Concert Chorale of New York is a group of professional singers that performs with various conductors and presenters in New York. The group has appeared at the Caramoor Festival in concert versions of Handel's L'Allegro and Theodora, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Rossini's La Cenerentola. Other credits include the Brooklyn Academy of Music productions of Philip Glass's The CIVIL warS, John Adams's Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer, as well as Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and L'Allegro with the Mark Morris Dance Company. JAMES BAGWELL, CHORAL DIRECTOR
James Bagwell maintains an active international schedule as a conductor of choral, operatic, and orchestral music. He was most recently named associate conductor of The Orchestra Now (T?N) and in 2009 was appointed principal guest conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra, leading them in concerts at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. From 2009 to 2015 he served as music director of the Collegiate Chorale. Highlights of his tenure with them include conducting a number of rarely performed operas at Carnegie Hall, including Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, Rossini's Möise et Pharaon, and most recently, Boito's Mefistofele . Bagwell has also trained choruses for numerous major American and international orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony (Japan), St. Petersburg Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. JANAI BRUGGER, SOPRANO
Janai Brugger, a 2012 winner of Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was seen at the Metropoliatn Opera this past season as Jemmy in Guillaume Tell (role debut), Micaëla in Carmen, Pamina in The Magic Flute, and Marzelline in Fidelio (role debut). Identified by Opera News as one of its top 25 "brilliant young artists" (October 2015), Brugger recently made her U.K. debut as Pamina at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and appeared in Los Angeles Opera's new production of the Mozart opera by Barrie Kosky. JENNIFER JOHNSON CANO, MEZZO-SOPRANO
Jennifer Johnson Cano is noted for her commanding stage presence and profound artistry with a warm, velvety timbre that has garnered critical acclaim. Winner of a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant and 2014 George London Award, Cano joined The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008 and became the first-prize winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 2009. She has appeared more than 100 times at the Metropolitan Opera. Other operatic appearances include Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Bizet's Carmen with Boston Lyric Opera, The Sharp Eared Fox in Janá?ek's Cunning Little Vixen with the Cleveland Orchestra, Orphée in Orphée et Eurydice with Des Moines Metro Opera, and Diana in La Calisto with Cincinnati Opera. ADAM LAU, BASS
Equally at home on the concert, opera, and recital stages, Adam Lau has performed with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, and San Francisco Opera in a wide variety of roles from the title character in Le Nozze di Figaro to Mephistopheles in Damnation of Faust. Lau has been honored with first prize at the 2016 Jensen Vocal competition, top prize at the 2015 George London Foundation competition, and was a finalist in the 2016 Dallas Opera competition. MILES MYKKANEN, TENOR
Miles Mykkanen has garnered recognition on the world's concert and operatic stages for his "focused, full-voiced tenor" (The New York Times). Performances during the 2016/2017 season included Bernstein's Candide with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Columbus and Requiem with the Sarasota Orchestra, and Handel's Messiah with the St. Thomas Church 5th Avenue Choir of Men and Boys and Concert Royal. Mykkanen celebrated his Carnegie Hall recital debut last year and has performed with Juilliard415, the New World Symphony, New York Festival of Song, National Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. BRANDIE SUTTON, SOPRANO
Brandie Sutton began her professional career with a solo recital in the province of St. Maarten and many presentations of Handel's Messiah around the United States. Sutton has appeared on stages including the Semperoper Dresden, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre de Genève, and New York City Opera. She has also appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in a solo recital in Washington, D.C., Merkin Concert Hall at New York, and Carnegie Hall. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Orpheus Symphony Orchestra in Moscow, the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, and Wynton Marsalis along with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. JACK SWANSON, TENOR
Stillwater, Minnesota-native Jack Swanson is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after young tenors in the opera world. His distinctive high lyric voice is known for singing the acrobatic arias of Rossini and the legato melodies of Donizetti. Current roles include Camille in The Merry Widow with Winter Opera St. Louis, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera Memphis, and a reprise of Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Opera Delaware. Future engagements include performances with Glyndebourne Opera on tour as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Albazar in Il Turco in Italia with Garsington Opera, and Lindoro in Il Turco in Italia with Santa Fe Opera. PAUL AGNEW, CONDUCTOR
An artist of international renown and an accomplished teacher, Paul Agnew was born in Glasgow and began his musical education with the Birmingham Cathedral Choir. He continued his musical studies at Magdalen College, Oxford, and afterwards joined the Consort of Musicke with which he performed music from the Italian and English Renaissance. Agnew is also co-director of Le Jardin des Voix, Les Arts Florissants's academy for young singers. This interest in the training of new generations of musicians has also led him to conduct the Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroque on many occasions, as well as the European Union Baroque Orchestra. In 2017, Agnew will direct the European Baroque Academy in Ambronay. Dedicated to musical education for all, and especially the youngest, he also devises educational concerts, such as Monsieur de Monteverdi and La Lyre d'Orphée. JEREMY DENK, PIANO
Jeremy Denk is one of America's foremost pianists-an artist TheNew York Times hails as "someone you want to hear no matter what he performs." Winner of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America 's Instrumentalist of the Year Award, Denk was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016. Denk returns frequently to Carnegie Hall and has recently appeared at the BBC Proms with Michael Tilson Thomas and in the U.S. with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra, as well as on tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Following the release of his recording of the Goldberg Variations-which reached number one on Billboard's Classical Chart-Denk performed the piece throughout Europe, including at Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Denk has toured frequently with violinist Joshua Bell, and their recently released Sony Classical album, French Impressions , won the 2012 Echo Klassik Award. He also collaborates regularly with cellist Steven Isserlis and has appeared at numerous festivals, including the Italian and American Spoleto Festivals and the Verbier, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen Music, and Mostly Mozart Festivals. LES ARTS FLORISSANTS
An ensemble of singers and instrumentalists specializing in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments, Les Arts Florissants is renowned the world over. Founded in 1979 by the Franco-American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie, the ensemble, named for a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, has played a pioneering role in the revival of a Baroque repertoire that had long been neglected (including the rediscovery of countless treasures in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France). Today that repertoire is widely performed and admired: not only French music from the reign of Louis XIV, but also more generally European music of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble is directed by William Christie, who, since 2007, has regularly passed the conductor's baton over to British tenor Paul Agnew. EDWARD GARDNER, CONDUCTOR
Edward Gardner is chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he assumed in October 2015 leading its 250th anniversary gala concert. The coming season will see Gardner touring the orchestra to cities including Berlin, Munich, London, and Amsterdam and continuing his hugely successful relationship with Chandos Records. During recent seasons, Gardner has worked with some of the world's major orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Swedish Radio, Filarmonica della Scala, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and the Boston, Toronto, Montreal, and Houston Symphony Orchestras. GIANANDREA NOSEDA, CONDUCTOR
Widely recognized as one of the leading conductors of his generation, Gianandrea Noseda was the International Opera Awards Conductor of the Year 2016 and Musical America 's Conductor of the Year 2015. He was recently appointed principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2016/17 season. In the 2017/18 season he will become music director of the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., an appointment recognized internationally. As music director of the Teatro Regio Torino since 2007, his initiatives have propelled the Teatro Regio Torino onto the global stage, where it has become one of Italy's most important cultural ambassadors. Under his leadership, the Teatro Regio Torino has recorded with the leading singers of our time and embarked on tours to Austria, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States, including a recent visit to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. BEATRICE RANA, PIANO
At only 23 years old, Beatrice Rana?is making waves on the international classical music scene, earning admiration and interest from conductors, critics, and audiences around the world. Born in Italy into a family of musicians, Rana began her piano studies at the age of four and made her orchestral debut at the age of nine. She currently lives in Rome, where she continues her studies with her mentor, Benedetto Lupo. She studied previously with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover. Rana came to public attention in 2011 after winning first prize and all special jury prizes at the Montreal International Competition. Her promising career was brought to an even higher level in 2013 when she won the Silver Medal and the Audience Award at the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In September 2015 she was named a BBC New Generation Artist, and in April 2016 she was awarded a fellowship from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. She collaborates regularly with conductors of the highest level and performs at the world's most esteemed concert halls and festivals. KSENIJA SIDOROVA, ACCORDION
Praised as "superbly subtle and virtuosic" (The Arts Desk) and "an amazingly accomplished artist" (Classical Source ), Ksenija Sidorova is the leading ambassador for the accordion. Encouraged to take up the instrument by a grandmother steeped in the folk tradition of accordion playing, Sidorova started to play the instrument at age eight under the guidance of Marija Gasele in her hometown of Riga. Her quest for more exposure to both classical and contemporary repertoire took her to London, where she became a prize-winning undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music studying under Owen Murray. She subsequently received her master's degree with distinction. A recipient of both the Philharmonia Orchestra's Martin Musical Scholarship and Friends of the Philharmonia Award, as well as the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal, Sidorova has just been appointed a Junge Wilde Artist by the Konzerthaus Dortmund.
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The Mostly Mozart Festival is a presentation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) , which serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community engagement, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 16 series, festivals, and programs, including American Songbook, Avery Fisher Career Grants and Artist program, David Rubenstein Atrium programming, Great Performers, The Performing Arts Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center at the Movies, Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Lincoln Center Vera List Art Project, Midsummer Night Swing, Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, the Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS, and Lincoln Center Education, which is celebrating 40 years enriching the lives of students, educators, and lifelong learners. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
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