Percussionist Martin Grubinger Joins CSO Season Finale Tonight

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) concludes its 2014-15 season with this weekend's concerts at historic Music Hall. Music Director Louis Langrée will lead the orchestra in an exotic program that features Austrian multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger in his CSO debut.

This concert weekend also marks the Orchestra's annual food drive benefiting Freestore Foodbank. The food drive is part of the CSO's collaboration with Orchestras Feeding America, and the CSO will be offering concert tickets at a discounted price of $10 to all who make a donation of a non-perishable food item (Friday only, though donations will be accepted Saturday as well), as part of community-wide efforts to eliminate hunger in the region.

Dubbed a "once-in-a-hundred-years musician," multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger is known both for his "vital elemental force and artistic finishing touch," whether through his versatile and inventive musicianship or visually stunning performance techniques. He will perform Avner Dorman's Frozen in Time, a work written specifically for Mr. Grubinger and whose title the composer says refers to "imaginary snapshots of the Earth's geological development from prehistoric times to the present day," with each movement depicting a prehistoric continent: Indoafrica, Eurasia, and The Americas.

The program will begin with Borodin's poetic Polovtsian Dances, which was featured on the wildly popular LUMENOCITY 2014 concert program, and concludes with Rimsky-Korsakov's enthralling Scheherazade, based on the tale of the young Sultana who saved her own life by entertaining her husband night after night with the story of the 1,001 Arabian Nights. The combination of colorful orchestration and a strong interest in the East typical of Russian music at the time of its composition result in the piece being considered Rimsky-Korsakov's most popular work.

All ticketholders are invited to attend Classical Conversations, beginning one hour prior to the concert in the Music Hall auditorium. Get inside the hearts and minds of the composers and guest artists with these informative discussions. Multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger and Assistant Conductor William White will lead this week's conversation. Both performance nights will also feature the popular Music Lab from 6:30-7:45 P.M. in the Music Hall lobby. Ticketholders are invited to join in the musical experience by holding or playing an orchestral instrument.

Tickets for this concert start at just $12 and are available by calling the CSO Box Office at (513) 381-3300 or visiting www.cincinnatisymphony.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Martin Grubinger, percussion

Dubbed by critics as "a wizard of percussion", Austrian multi- percussionist Martin Grubinger has achieved the extraordinary feat of turning solo percussion into the highlight of the classical concert world. A regular guest at many of the top orchestras and the world's most prestigious venues, Grubinger's repertoire is unusually broad and ranges from solo works and chamber music, with partners including his own Percussive Planet Ensemble and pianists Ferhan and Ferzan O?nder, to percussion concertos.

Highlights of the 2014/15 season are, amongst many others, Grubinger's debuts with China Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmo?nica de Minas Gerais and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France alongside engagements with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gu?rzenich Orchester and WDR Sinfonieorchester. Grubinger will be Artist in Residence with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Tongyeong Music Festival in Korea. With star baritone Thomas Hampson he will present a new recital program, initially at the Gasteig in Munich, Wiener Konzerthaus and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. His breathtaking percussion show involving freerunners and breakdancers, "Free My Way", is now in its second year.

Amongst the growing number of works especially written for Grubinger are Avner Dorman's "Frozen in Time" (2007) and Friedrich Cerha's "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra" (2008), as well as Tan Dun's concerto, "Tears of Nature" (2012). Spring 2014 saw the world premiere of "Speaking Drums" with Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the baton of its composer Peter Eo?tvo?s. His well known percussion projects "The Percussive Planet" and the recently premiered "Caribbean Showdown" are further examples of his versatility.

Martin was named Artist in Residence at the 2008/09 Leipzig Gewandhaus, followed by residences with the Camerata Salzburg, at the Philharmonie Ko?ln, Philharmonie Mu?nchen and Wiener Konzerthaus. He has also appeared with NHK Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Mu?nchner, Orquesta Sinfo?nica de Castilla y Leo?n, Bamberger Symphoniker and BBC Philharmonic. He also guests regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony orchestras and National Symphony Orchestra Washington.

Regular guest appearances have led him to the Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein Music festivals, Bregenz Festival, Beethoven Festival in Bonn and Salzburg Festival, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, the Brass & Percussion Festival in Tokyo's famous Suntory Hall and the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. In 2013 he was 'artiste e?toile' at Lucerne Festival.

Winner of multiple prizes, Martin Grubinger is recipient of the Bernstein Award by the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival and the prestigious Jeunesses Musicales' Wu?rth Prize. Grubinger's first CD, "Drums'n'Chant" was soon followed by a live recording of "The Percussive Planet" on DVD, both for Deutsche Grammophon. He has since recorded a number of projects for various labels.

Born in Salzburg, Martin Grubinger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Salzburg Mozarteum. He had already garnered attention in his youth, having appeared at several international competitions, amongst others at the second World Marimbaphone Competition held in Okaya, Japan, and at the EBU Competition in Norway.

Louis Langrée, conductor

Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since the 2013-2014 season, the French conductor Louis Langre?e is also Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York (a position he has held since 2002) and Chief Conductor of Camerata Salzburg. During his second season with the CSO he will conduct concerts with both Lang Lang and Yo-Yo Ma and lead the Orchestra in world premiere performances by Caroline Shaw, Daniel Bjarnason and Andre? Previn. His collaboration with the Camerata Salzburg will include concerts in Cologne, Salzburg, Vienna and on tour to South America. During the 2014-2015 season Louis also returned to the Orchestre de Paris and continued his regular appearances with the Wiener Staatsoper (Eugene Onegin) and the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Carmen).

Louis Langre?e has conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker in both Vienna and Salzburg, in addition to many other major orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, South America and North America. Festival appearances have included Wiener Festwochen, BBC Proms, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. He has been Music Director of the Orchestre de Picardie and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Lie?ge. Mr. Langre?e also was Music Director of Ope?ra National de Lyon and Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and he has conducted at La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Ope?ra-Bastille and The?a?tre des Champs-Elyse?es (Paris), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dresden Staatsoper, Grand The?a?tre of Geneva and Netherlands Opera (Amsterdam).

Louis Langre?e's first commercial recording with the CSO was released September 9, 2014, featuring Copland's A Lincoln Portrait (narrated by Dr Maya Angelou) and world premieres by Nico Muhly and David Lang. Mr. Langre?e's discography includes recordings for Virgin Classics, Universal and Nai?ve. Many of these have won awards, including the Diapason d'Or, Gramophone and Midem Classical. Louis Langre?e was appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2006 and Chevalier de la Le?gion d'Honneur in 2014.

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