Riverside Symphony Presents  NEW WINE—OLD BOTTLES At Alice Tully Hall, Today

Under the baton of its founding music director, George Rothman, Riverside Symphony will offer the final concert of its 37th season at Alice Tully Hall on Wednesday evening, June 6 at 8:00PM. In a memorial performance, the orchestra will open the concert with Schubert's Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" before proceeding to the world premiere of Artistic Director Anthony Korf's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra "Three Epigrams." This 25-minute work, commissioned by The Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music, will feature local virtuoso Jesse Mills, a much in-demand artist and founding member of the Horszowski Trio. Sibelius' radiant, yet less-familiar Symphony No. 3 in C major will conclude the concert.

While many composers since Beethoven's time have abandoned Classical musical structures, the program's theme underscores the fact that others-no less inventive-have pursued a formal ideal at once personal, yet identifiably within the symphonic tradition. Schubert's incomplete masterpiece bears out Beethoven's deathbed decree that, "Truly in Schubert there is the divine spark." Sibelius' superb mid-period statement, as in the continuum of all his seven symphonies, brought what many deigned to be a tired, old form to new heights-while Mr. Korf's bold new concerto proposes that frontiers remain to be conquered.

PROGRAM

New Wine-Old Bottles

WEDNESDAY, June 6, 2018, 8pm

With Jesse Mills, violin

SCHUBERT Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished"
KORF Concerto for Violin and Orchestra "Three Epigrams" World Premiere

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3 in C major

MEET THE ARTISTS

Two-time Grammy nominated violinist Jesse Mills excels in many genres, from classical to contemporary. Since his concerto debut at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Mr. Mills has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada, appearing as soloist with the Phoenix Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Green Bay Symphony, Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Denver Philharmonic, the Teatro Argentino Orchestra (in Buenos Aires, Argentina), and the Aspen Music Festival's Sinfonia Orchestra. Mills is co-founder of the Horszowski Trio and Duo Prism, a violin-piano duo with Rieko Aizawa, which earned 1st Prize at the Zinetti International Competition in Italy in 2006. With Ms. Aizawa, Mills became co-artistic director of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Colorado in 2010.

A passionate advocate of contemporary music, Mills has earned Grammy nominations for his performances of Arnold Schoenberg's music, released by NAXOS in 2005 and 2010. He can also be heard on the Koch, Centaur, Tzadik, Max Jazz, and Verve labels for various compositions of Webern, Schoenberg, Zorn, Wuorinen, and others. As a member of the FLUX Quartet from 2001-2003, Mills performed music composed during the last 50 years, in addition to frequent world premieres. As a composer and arranger, Mills has been commissioned by venues including Columbia University's Miller Theater, the Chamber Music Northwest festival in Portland, OR, and Bargemusic in NYC.

George Rothman, Riverside Symphony's founding music director and conductor, has led orchestras throughout the United States, as well as in South America, Asia, and Europe. Praised as "adventurous, committed, [and] energetic" by Musical America, his performances of an unusually diverse repertory are also routinely acclaimed by The New York Times and other leading publications. As an advocate for new music, Mr. Rothman has led well over 150 world and local premieres from both established and emerging composers around the world, while Riverside Symphony's seven CDs of major contemporary orchestral works-mainly world premiere recordings-under his leadership have been lauded by Fanfare for their "awesomely assured performances." Furthermore, Mr. Rothman is active as a pianist and lecturer, regularly participating in workshops and seminars with leading American composers.

He has served on the music faculties of Columbia and Yale Universities and, since 2005, Brooklyn College, where he is currently Conductor of the Conservatory Orchestra and Professor of Music.

Riverside Symphony, co-founded in 1981 by George Rothman and Anthony Korf, has been widely noted for its unique focus on discovery-of young artists, unfamiliar works by the great masters, and important new pieces by living composers from around the world, for which it provides a rare forum at its annual Lincoln Center concert series at Alice Tully Hall. Critically acclaimed for its vibrant performances of music from all periods, the orchestra counts New York's finest instrumentalists among its membership. Riverside Symphony CDs have brought international acclaim, including a Grammy nomination and Editor's Pick from Britain's Gramophone and The New York Times. The orchestra can be heard on Riverside Symphony Records (1401 Constant), Bridge Records (9057 Ruders; 9091 Imbrie; 9112 Davidovsky; 9294 Korf), and New World Records (383 Davidovsky, Korf, Wright).

Tickets range in price from $34 to $65. Family plan and student tickets are available. To purchase, please call (212) 864-4197 or visit www.riversidesymphony.org.

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