Maestro David Zinman to Lead FAURE REQUIEM with Houston Symphony, Today

HOUSTON (April 20, 2016) - Renowned maestro David Zinman will appear with the Houston Symphony and Chorus to conduct the Fauré Requiem at 8 p.m. April 28 and 30 and at 2:30 p.m. May 1. Zinman is the only American conductor to appear on this season's classical series.

The program will begin with Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, Italian, a work inspired by the culture and landscapes of Italy. During composition, Mendelssohn wrote to his sister that the work would be "the jolliest piece I have ever done, especially the last movement."

After intermission, the Houston Symphony Chorus will make its last appearance of the season with a performance of the best-known Fauré work, Requiem. The piece brings solace and hope to listeners, with themes of eternal rest and consolation. Baritone Stephen Powell and soprano Kiera Duffy, who will be making her Houston Symphony debut, will join the orchestra for the piece's two solo roles. Both Powell and Duffy maintain busy traveling schedules, frequently performing with the nation's leading operas and orchestras.

The concert will take place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston's Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit www.houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.

FAURÉ REQUIEM Thursday, April 28, 2016, at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30, 2016, at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 1, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. David Zinman, conductor
Kiera Duffy, soprano
Stephen Powell, baritone
Houston Symphony Chorus

Betsy Cook Weber, director Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, Italian Fauré: Requiem
Tickets from $19

About David Zinman

New York-born David Zinman's career has been distinguished by a wide-ranging repertoire and his commitment to contemporary music. He has held positions as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras; principal conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School. He is conductor laureate of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, having completed 19 years as music director, and is the current music director of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes. He regularly conducts the world's leading orchestras.

Zinman's discography of more than 100 recordings has earned numerous international honors, including five Grammy awards, two Grand Prix du Disque, two Edison Prizes, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, a Gramophone Award and the 2015 ECHO Klassik (Conductor of the Year) award.

Recent releases include a 50-CD box set, David Zinman: Great Symphonies - The Zurich Years, commemorating his Tonhalle-Orchester legacy.

The French Ministry of Culture awarded Zinman the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2000); and he received the Zürich Art Prize for outstanding artistic efforts (2002), the award's first conductor and first non-Swiss recipient. More recently, he accepted the prestigious Theodore Thomas Award for outstanding achievement and extraordinary service to one's colleagues in advancing conducting. He won the 2008 Midem Classical Artist of the Year award. Columbia's 1997 Ditson Conductor's Award recognized his exceptional commitment to performing works by American composers.

About Kiera Duffy

American soprano Kiera Duffy is recognized for her gleaming high soprano and insightful musicianship in repertoire that encompasses Handel, Bach and Mozart and the modern sounds of Berg, Glass and Zorn. Highlights of recent seasons include debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and MET Chamber Ensemble in Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Mozart's Mass in C minor, Ginastera's Quartet No. 3 with the Miró Quartet, St. Louis Symphony in Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and as Le feu/La princesse in the Laurent Pelly production of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges in Japan. She was heard with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand") for performances simulcast in movie theaters across North America, in David Del Tredici's Syzygy with the New World Symphony and Carmina Burana with the Atlanta and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as a Flower Maiden in the new production of Parsifal, which was an HD broadcast and released on DVD. Her first commercial recording, Richard Strauss: The Complete Songs, Volume 5 with pianist Roger Vignoles, was released by Hyperion Records.

Kiera Duffy, a finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, is featured in the film The Audition which is available on DVD (Decca). She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College.

About Stephen Powell

The dynamic American baritone Stephen Powell brings his "rich, lyric baritone, commanding presence and thoughtful musicianship" (Wall Street Journal) to a wide range of music. This season, he returns to Opera Philadelphia as Germont in La traviata, to New Jersey Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, to Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Messiah, to Minnesota Opera as Scarpia in Tosca and to Michigan Opera Theatre in his debut performances as the title role in Macbeth. Powell made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in Messiah at the John F.

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and with the Kansas City Symphony as soloist in the world premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff's Symphony No. 3.

This summer, he returns to Tanglewood as soloist in Carmina Burana with Boston Symphony Orchestra and to Minnesota Orchestra as Iago in Otello. Powell's engagements in the 2016-17 season will include returns to Philadelphia Orchestra as soloist in Carmina Burana, to San Francisco Opera as Prus in The Makropulos Case, to North Carolina Symphony and Kansas City Symphony in Britten's War Requiem, and his debut with Seattle Opera as Germont in La traviata. His recent concert engagements include Britten's War Requiem with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, his debut with Cleveland Orchestra in Carmina Burana and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with Houston Symphony.

About the Houston Symphony

During the 2015-16 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its second season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and continues its second century as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas whose inaugural performance was held at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $32.8 million, the full-time ensemble of 87 professional musicians and 4 community-embedded musicians is the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 300 performances for 400,000 people, including 97,000 children, annually. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224- 7575.

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