New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert To Lead His First Tour Of Europe

New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead his first tour of Europe with the Orchestra: EUROPE / WINTER 2010, January 21-February 4, 2010. The tour takes place halfway through Mr. Gilbert's inaugural season as Music Director, and will be his second tour with the Orchestra, following Asian Horizons in October 2009. EUROPE / WINTER 2010 will comprise thirteen performances in nine European cities: Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Madrid, Spain; Zurich, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Cologne, and Dortmund (the Orchestra's debut there), Germany; Paris, France; and London, England. The Philharmonic will be accompanied by two soloists, baritone Thomas Hampson, the Philharmonic's Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and the pianist Yefim Bronfman. EUROPE / WINTER 2010 will be the fifth New York Philharmonic concert tour under the aegis of Credit Suisse, the Orchestra's Global Sponsor, and the second in Europe.

The repertoire for EUROPE / WINTER 2010 will include the European premiere of EXPO, the first New York Philharmonic commission from Magnus Lindberg, The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, which had its world premiere in September 2009 and which the Orchestra performed in Asia. The New York Philharmonic will also perform John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, featuring Mr. Hampson as soloist; Berg's Three Orchestral Pieces; Haydn's Symphony No. 49, La passione; Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Yefim Bronfman as soloist; Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2; Schubert's Symphony in B minor, Unfinished; and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2.

This Philharmonic tour marks a return to Spain for the first time since 2001. The Orchestra last performed in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1985. The Philharmonic most recently performed in Frankfurt in 2008, Cologne in 2007, and Paris and London in 2008. This will be the Orchestra's debut in Dortmund.

"The upcoming tour to Europe is a wonderful opportunity for me to introduce my partnership with the New York Philharmonic to a part of the world where I've spent much of my career," said New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert. "We will be performing masterpieces by great composers of many eras - from Haydn through Berg to our contemporaries. The newest work on the tour will be Magnus Lindberg's EXPO, a Philharmonic commission that we premiered at our gala opening night concert this past September and which we have already reprised in New York and on our Asian Horizons tour this past October. Yefim Bronfman, one of today's greatest pianists, will enrich this musical journey with Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto, and we will be bringing to the ‘old world' a taste of the ‘new,' with John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, to be performed by the superb American baritone Thomas Hampson."

"Alan Gilbert's Philharmonic tenure has only just begun, and already the chemistry he enjoys with the Orchestra has created excitement and extraordinary music-making both at home and on tour in Asia," said Zarin Mehta, President and Executive Director of the New York Philharmonic. "Now, on this tour of Europe, he will be able to share with new audiences his commitment to the Philharmonic's 167-year legacy while infusing it with a new passion. His embrace of the great masterworks of the past, as well as the music of our own time, is reflected in the programs he will be conducting, as is his belief in collaboration. I know Alan is delighted to bring with us two of the great artists he has invited to play key artistic roles with the Orchestra: The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, and Thomas Hampson, who is the Philharmonic's Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. We are pleased to be joined by the pianist Yefim Bronfman, who is an almost annual guest with the Orchestra at home in New York."

"This first European tour featuring the collaboration of Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic is set in much of the birthplace of the symphonic tradition," said New York Philharmonic Chairman Gary W. Parr. "It's a marvelous opportunity for audiences to experience the evolution of America's oldest orchestra and its new energy and vitality. We are grateful to the Philharmonic's Global Sponsor, Credit Suisse, for supporting this journey, the Orchestra's fifth tour - and the second to Europe - under its aegis, and for furthering the growth of the Philharmonic, under Alan's inspired and innovative leadership."

"Credit Suisse is proud to support the New York Philharmonic and its EUROPE / WINTER 2010 tour as the Orchestra's sole Global Sponsor," said Paul Calello, CEO of Credit Suisse's Investment Bank and New York Philharmonic Board Member. "We are particularly delighted to support the first Europe tour with new Music Director Alan Gilbert, and we anticipate with great pleasure being able to share outstanding concerts with our clients and employees in Europe - from the Orchestra's first stop in Barcelona, through its performances in all the tour cities, and on to the final concerts in London."

Artists
Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in the 2009-10 season, the first native New Yorker to hold the post. For his inaugural season he has introduced a number of new initiatives and artistic partners: The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg; The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in- Residence Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's new-music series. He has also led the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi, and performances of world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009-10 season Mr. Gilbert becomes the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that will include coaching, conducting, and performance master classes. Highlights of Mr. Gilbert's 2008-09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the November 14, 2008, Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic, featuring Bernstein's Symphony No. 3, Kaddish. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson's The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and four concerts at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In June 2008 Mr. Gilbert was named conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, following his final concert as its chief conductor and artistic advisor. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra (NDRSO) since 2004. Mr. Gilbert regularly conducts other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; The Cleveland Orchestra; Munich's Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of Santa Fe Opera, where he served for three seasons.

Born and raised in New York City, Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School; he was a substitute violinist with The Philadelphia Orchestra for two seasons, and assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra from 1995 to 1997. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams's Dr. Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

Yefim Bronfman is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals, his prestigious orchestral engagements, or his rapidly growing catalogue of recordings.

Orchestral highlights of his 2009-10 season include two performances at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine and Michael Tilson Thomas; an appearance at the Lucerne Festival with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa- Pekka Salonen, followed by concerts with the Philharmonia and Christoph von Dohnányi performing both Brahms piano concertos; multiple concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta and the Lucerne Academy Orchestra with Pierre Boulez; Artiste Etoile at the Lucerne Festival; a recital tour throughout Japan; and subscription concerts with the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras. Recitals and duos in 2009-10 include appearances at New York's Carnegie Hall, both solo and with Magdalena Kožená; a recital tour through ten US cities and performances in Rome, Vienna, and Warsaw. Mr. Bronfman made a recent live television appearance with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union on April 10, 1958, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, where he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro, and the Curtis Institute of Music, and with Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. Mr. Bronfman became an American citizen in July 1989.

In the 2009-10 season Thomas Hampson serves as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic as well as the Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence. In these roles he will perform three programs with the Orchestra, appear on the Orchestra's European tour, give a recital in AlIce Tully Hall, and present three lectures entitled "Listening to Thought" as  art of the Orchestra's Insights Series. The renowned American baritone has performed in the world's preeminent concert halls and opera houses and with many of today's most renowned musicians and orchestras; he also maintains an active interest in teaching, music research, and technology. An important interpreter of German romantic song, he is known as a leading proponent of the study of American song through his Hampsong Foundation, which he founded in 2003 to
promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

In addition to his work with the New York Philharmonic, much of Mr. Hampson's 2009-10 season is devoted to his "Song of America" project. Collaborating with the Library of Congress, he is performing recitals and presenting master classes, educational activities, exhibitions, and broadcasts across the country and through a new interactive online resource, www.songofamerica.net. Other engagements include Mendelssohn's Elijah, led by Kurt Masur in Leipzig; Verdi's Ernani and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with Zurich Opera; Verdi's La traviata at The Metropolitan Opera; solo recitals throughout the United States and in many European capitals; and the galas of the Vienna Staatsoper and the new Winspear Opera House in Dallas. Raised in Spokane, Washington, Thomas Hampson has released more than 150 albums that have received distinguished honors, including a Grammy Award, two Edison Prizes, and the Grand Prix du Disque. He has been named Kammersänger of the Vienna Staatsoper; Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France; and Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America by Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress.

About the New York Philharmonic Founded in 1842, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. Since its inception, the Philharmonic has played a leading role in American musical life, championing the new music of its time and commissioning or premiering many important works, from Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World (1893) and Gershwin's An American in Paris (1928) to John Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning On the Transmigration of Souls (2002) and Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto (2007). Alan Gilbert became Music Director in the 2009-10 season, succeeding Lorin Maazel in a distinguished line of musical giants that has included Kurt Masur, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Gustav Mahler, Bruno Walter, and Arturo Toscanini. Over the last century the Philharmonic has become renowned around the globe, having appeared in 427 cities in 61 countries on five continents. In February 2008 the Philharmonic made a historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea - the first performance there by an American orchestra and an event that was watched around the world and for which the
Philharmonic received the 2008 Common Ground Award for Cultural Diplomacy. Long a media pioneer, the Orchestra began radio broadcasts in 1922, and is currently
represented by The New York Philharmonic This Week, syndicated nationally 52 weeks per year, streamed on the Orchestra's Website, nyphil.org, and carried on Sirius XM Radio. On television, in the 1950s and '60s, the Philharmonic inspired a generation of music lovers through Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts, telecast on CBS, and its presence on television has continued with annual appearances on Live From Lincoln Center, which began with that series' inaugural episode in 1976. The Internet has expanded the Orchestra's reach, and in 2006 the Philharmonic became the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, which are available on the DG Concerts label, exclusively on iTunes. Credit Suisse is the exclusive Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic.