Pianist Inon Barnatan Highlights Riverside Symphony Concert at Lincoln Center Tonight

Music Director George Rothman will lead Riverside Symphony in a program of musical gems reflecting the cross-pollination of jazz and indigenous music with traditional European compositional technique. The orchestra closes its 32nd season with flair this evening, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

The irresistible influence of jazz is brashly on display throughout Czech composer Irwin Schulhoff's endearingly vernacular opus; elegantly encompassed by Ravel's beloved Piano Concerto (featuring Tel-Aviv-born Inon Barnatan, Avery Fischer Career Grant winner); and thoroughly refined in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' sparkling contemporary overture. Riverside Symphony's distinguished principal musicians will be featured in Alberto Ginastera's masterful yet seldom-played concerto grosso in theme and variation form, which applies the rigor of European formalism to Argentine folk sources.

Meet the Artists:

Tel Aviv-born Inon Barnatan began piano studies at the age of three and made his orchestral debut at eleven. In 1997, he moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Maria Curcio, a student of the legendary Artur Schnabel. In 2004, at the invitation of his teacher and mentor Leon Fleisher, Mr. Barnatan traveled to the United States to take part in a Schubert workshop at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Barnatan has performed as a soloist with orchestras on three continents as well as such American orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Mr. Barnatan was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two program from 2006 to 2009 and continues to perform regularly with them. Upon the release of Mr. Barnatan's debut solo recording of Schubert works on Bridge Records, London's Evening Standard wrote: "The young, Israeli born pianist Inon Barnatan is a true poet of the keyboard: refined, searching, unfailingly communicative." Gramophone also recommended the recording in its November 2006 award issue. Mr. Barnatan's second solo recording, Darknesse Visible, released on Avie Records in April 2012, was named BBC Music Magazine's Instrumentalist CD of the Month. In 2009, Mr. Barnatan was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, an honor reflecting the strong impression he has made on the American music scene in a short period of time. Inon Barnatan currently resides in New York City in a converted warehouse in Harlem.

George Rothman, Riverside Symphony's music director and conductor since its incep­tion, has led orchestras throughout the United States, in South America, Asia and Europe. He has been active as pianist and lecturer in a wide variety of musical settings, including appearances with leading American composers in workshops and seminars. Mr. Rothman served as Music Director of the Grand Junction (Colorado) Symphony in 1986-1987, Director of Music Performance at Columbia University and conductor of its orchestra from 1988-2000 and Music Director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra from 2004-2005. He is currently Music Director and Conductor of Brooklyn College's Conservatory Orchestra and Associate Professor of Music. A native New Yorker, Mr. Rothman received his undergraduate training at the Manhattan School of Music and his Masters degree from Queens College, where he also served as Associate Lecturer and Conductor. In 1979, Mr. Rothman was awarded a scholarship to study conducting at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.

Riverside Symphony, now in its 32nd season, was co-founded in 1981 by George Rothman and Anthony Korf. Its original focus on discovery- discovery of young artists, unfamiliar works by the great masters and important new pieces by living composers from around the world-informs all of its programming choices. Critically acclaimed for vibrant performances of music from all periods, the orchestra counts this city's finest instrumentalists among its membership. Riverside Symphony's CDs, including a release by Bridge Records of music by artistic director Anthony Korf, have brought international acclaim, including a 2000 Grammy nomination and Editor's Pick from Britain's Gramophone and The New York Times.

The concert takes place tonight, June 6, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Single Tickets: $55, $40 & $24, Students ½ price at box office (day of concert only). For tickets call Riverside Symphony at 212-864-4197 or visit www.riversidesymphony.org.

PROGRAM:

SCHULHOFF Suite for Chamber Orchestra
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G major
MAXWELL DAVIES Ojai Festival Overture New York Premiere
GINASTERA Variaciones concertantes