Philharmonic Society Presents Conrad Tao & Friends In A 100 Year Celebration Of 'Rhapsody In Blue'

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao joins longtime collaborator, choreographer and award-winning tap dancer Caleb Teicher on Sunday, November 23, 2024, at 8pm at Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. This concert features a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. with KUSC's Brian Lauritzen, joined by artists Tao and Teicher.

The duo will perform selections from Counterpoint, a collaboration that explores the dichotomy of their different perspectives and artistic practices, expanding their individual expressive capacity through a collective experience. The stylistically diverse music of Counterpoint includes Art Tatum's rapid-fire tempo and complex chord substitutions in Cherokee and Arnold Schoenberg's ironic take on the Viennese waltz. Also performed is Flung Out-a piece composed by Tao for piano and chamber ensemble. Joining Tao will be musicians from Pacific Symphony. The night will conclude with Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blue-celebrating 100 years since its inception.

This concert is presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and is a part of the Eclectic Orange Series sponsored by the Jelinek Family Trust. It is also a part of the Steven M. Sorenson Signature Artist Series, supported by the Steven M. Sorenson Foundation.

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer. He is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist-an honor awarded every two years highlighting the most promising American pianists of the new generation. In recent years, Conrad has been the subject of a special focus with the Finnish Radio Symphony and the Swedish Radio Symphony, both of whom have presented him over multiple concerts. He has also performed with the Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under both Orozco-Estrada and Antonio Pappano. As a composer, his work has been performed by orchestras throughout the world; his first large scale orchestral work, Everything Must Go, received its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic and its European premiere with the Antwerp Symphony.

Tao was also the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award for Outstanding Sound Design / Music Composition for his work on More Forever, in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist.

Caleb Teicher is a NYC-based dancer and choreographer specializing in musically driven dance traditions and interdisciplinary collaboration. Teicher began their career as a founding member of Michelle Dorrance's critically acclaimed tap dance company, Dorrance Dance, while also freelancing in contemporary dance (The Chase Brock Experience, The Bang Group), Lindy Hop (Syncopated City Dance Company), and musical theater (West Side Story International Tour and London). As a solo performer and collaborator, Teicher is known for choreographic collaborations with diverse musical talents: world-champion beatboxer Chris Celiz, composer/pianist Conrad Tao; the National Symphony Orchestra, and indie rock legends Ben Folds and Regina Spektor.

In 2015, Teicher shifted their creative focus towards Caleb Teicher & Company (CT&Co), a creative home for incubating new concert dance works from Teicher's unique perspective. CT&Co's engagements and commissions expand across the U.S. and abroad including The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, the Guggenheim Museum (NYC and Bilbao), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Teicher is also the recipient of a 2019 New York City Center Choreographic Fellowship, two Bessie Awards, a 2019 Harkness Promise Award, the 2020 Gross Family Prize, and a 2019 NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant. Their work has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Vogue, Interview Magazine, on the cover of Dance Magazine and, most recently, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert alongside Regina Spektor. Teicher continues to engage with dance communities as a teacher for international tap, swing, and jazz dance festivals.

Pacific Symphony, under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Carl St.Clair since 1990, has been a resident orchestra of Orange County's Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for over 15 years. Founded in 1978, the Symphony is the largest orchestra formed in the U.S. in the last 50 years and is not only a fixture of musical life in Southern California but is also recognized as an outstanding ensemble making strides on both the national and international scenes. The orchestra presents more than 100 concerts and events each year and a rich array of education and community engagement programs, reaching more than 300,000 residents of all ages.

Musicians from the Pacific Symphony, including Josh Ranz on clarinet, Alex Iles on trombone, Rob Slack on percussion, Yoomin Seo on violin, and Richard Cassarino on bass, will perform alongside Tao in his composition Flung Out, a piece crafted for piano and chamber ensemble.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, is located at 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Ticket prices start at $41 and are available at the Philharmonic Society box office at (949) 553-2422, online at www.philharmonicsociety.org, and at the Center box office at (714) 556-2787.

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