Peninsula Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Three Eras of Jazz and Symphonic Synergy This Weekend

With a signature flair for programming and a nod to three of history's great jazz artists who are equally at home in the symphonic scene, Music Director and conductor Mitchell Sardou Klein has programmed an evening of music by Bay Area composer/pianist Taylor Eigsti and his artistic predecessors Dave Brubeck and George Gershwin in two performances tonight and tomorrow, January 17 and 18.

The program includes the world premieres of new works by Bay Area native and internationally recognized jazz artist Taylor Eigsti along with Eigsti performing Gershwin's game-changing Rhapsody in Blue and a special tribute to late Bay Area composer/pianist and jazz innovator Dave Brubeck in works to be announced featuring Eigsti and saxophonist Dayna Stephens. Rounding out the evening will be Gershwin's overtures to Girl Crazy and Strike Up the Band.

The concert will be given tonight, Janaury 17, at 8 pm at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center and Saturday, January 18, at 8 pm at Flint Center/DeAnza College. For information and tickets, visit www.peninsulasymphony.org

Tickets are priced $20-$40 and may be purchased at www.peninsulasymphony.org or by calling 650-941-5291 to place your order.

About The Guest Artists:

New York-based, Bay Area native pianist and composer Taylor Eigsti started playing the piano when he was four years old, inspired by his sister Shannon, a jazz and rock pianist, and he was mentored from an early age by Dave Brubeck. His musical journey since has been filled with many exciting opportunities to grow as a musician, artist, and educator. Becoming a bandleader at age 12, Eigsti was quickly labeled a prodigy, and released four early albums as a leader before having the opportunity to sign with Concord Records, where he has released three highly acclaimed albums. Eigsti has been recognized by critics internationally for his unique touch and rhythmic control, and his innovative improvisational storytelling.

The past few years have been especially exciting for the 28-year old California native. Eigsti released Lucky to Be Me in 2006, which was nominated for two Grammy awards for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Jazz Solo. Building on the momentum of the previous record, Eigsti was featured on the cover of both Keyboard Magazine and Jazziz Magazine, and was featured in his own BET Television special. Eigsti then released Let it Come to You (Concord) 2008, quickly garnering many four-star reviews from such publications asDownbeat Magazine and All Music Guide, and went to #2 in National Jazz Radio Airplay. This album also featured Eigsti's original visual art within the packaging. Eigsti has also been featured on many radio shows, including appearing on Marian McPartland's award-winning NPR program "PianoJazz" on several occasions.

Internationally renowned saxophonist/composer/educator Dayna Stephens is a force to watch out for. A fluid, vigorous soloist with a warm, soulful sound, Dayna has also proven himself a master of composition and arrangement, a highly acclaimed band leader and an in-demand side-man for some of Jazz's contemporary masters, such as Kenny Barron, Idris Mohammed and Taylor Eigsti. His debut album The Timeless Now, released on Contagious Music in 2007, features jazz legends John Scofield, Taylor Eigsti, Ben Street, Eric Harland and Nick Vayenas. The record was immediately embraced by the jazz community and resulted in heavy radio airplay across the US. It received warm reviews from a number of magazines, including a four-star review in the Nov 2007 issue of Downbeat, and climbed to #11 on the Billboard jazz charts, #9 on JazzWeek and NPR top-10 Jazz Jewels of 2007.

Stephens was born in Brooklyn, New York, August 1st, 1978, and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He showed serious talent early on, winning many awards and scholarships to various music programs, while attending the prestigious Berkeley High School. He then proceeded to the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship. Following his graduation, he was selected by judges Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard for the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC where he studied and played with, among others, Shorter, Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield and Mark Turner.

ABOUT PENINSULA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Peninsula Symphony Orchestra began in 1949, when two distinct musical ensembles--the Sequoia Symphony & the Peninsula Symphony--and one conductor, Russian-born violinist/conductor Aaron Sten, joined forces. In 1951, under Vincent Guida, symphony clarinetist and business manager, the organization was incorporated as a non-profit association, and a formal board was chosen. With the arrival of current conductor Mitchell Sardou Klein, the Peninsula Symphony grew from a grassroots ensemble to a polished 90-plus member orchestra of well-trained community musicians. The Peninsula Youth Orchestra was established in the spring of 1997, with Mitchell Sardou Klein serving as the Music Director. Today, Peninsula Symphony Orchestra works to enrich the lives of people in the community with inspiring, innovative, high-quality musical presentations at affordable prices, and to promote music education through engaging programs for children and adults.

About Mitchell Sardou Klein

Mitchell Sardou Klein, whose performances on four continents have garnered wide acclaim, enters his 29th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Peninsula Symphony and his 17th season as founding Music Director of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. He regularly guest conducts orchestras in California, throughout the United States, and in Europe.

He made his debut with Symphony Silicon Valley in two sold-out performances in January, 2012, and his other recent appearances as a guest conductor in California include the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Inland Empire/Riverside Philharmonic, Ballet San Jose, the California Riverside Ballet and the Livermore-Amador Philharmonic. Concerts elsewhere have included his return to Europe to guest conduct the New Polish Philharmonic and the Suddettic Philharmonic, concert tours of England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Holland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand with PYO, numerous return engagements to the San Jose Symphony (the predecessor of Symphony Silicon Valley), and his return to the podium of the Santa Cruz Symphony. Prior guest conducting appearances have included the Seattle Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Eastern Philharmonic, Flagstaff Festival Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, South Bend Symphony, and many others. Maestro Klein also has extensive experience in conducting ballet orchestras, including the Kansas City, Lone Star, Oakland, and Westport Ballets, as well as the Theater Ballet of San Francisco and les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

Maestro Klein directed over a hundred concerts as Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic (where he was also Principal Pops Conductor and Principal Conductor of Starlight Theater, the Philharmonic's summer home), and also served as Music Director of the Santa Cruz Symphony.

Maestro Klein is a winner of many prestigious awards, including the 2008 Diamond Award for Best Individual Artist, the Silver Lei Award from the 2009 Honolulu Film Festival (for the World Premiere of Giancarlo Aquilanti's La Poverta), the 2000 ASCAP Award for Programming of American Music on Foreign Tour, the 2001 Jullie Billiart Award from the College of Notre Dame for Outstanding Community Service, a 1996 award for the year's best television performance program in the Western States (for the one-hour PBS program about him and the Peninsula Symphony) as well as the 1993 Bravo Award for his contribution to the Bay Area's cultural life.

Mr. Klein was born in New York City, into a musical family that included members of the Claremont and Budapest String Quartets. He began cello studies at age four with his father, Irving Klein, founder of the Claremont Quartet. His mother, Elaine Hartong Klein, danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

Since 1984, he has been Director of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Held in San Francisco each June, the Competition has become one of the most prominent in the world, featuring prizes totaling over $25,000, attracting applicants from more than twenty nations annually, and launching numerous major international concert careers.

Cited for his "keen judgment, tight orchestral discipline, feeling for tempo, and unerring control," Maestro Klein has conducted many significant world, American, and West Coast premieres, including works by Bohuslav Martinu, Meyer Kupferman, Joan Tower, Hans Kox, George Barati, Benjamin Lees, Giancarlo Aguilanti, Melissa Hui, Rodion Shchedrin, Brian Holmes, Ron Miller, Lee Actor, Alvin Brehm, and Margaret Garwood. He has appeared frequently on national and international broadcasts, including National Public Radio, the Voice of America, the WFMT Fine Arts Network, PBS Television, and KQED television. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife, violist Patricia Whaley. Their daughter, Elizabeth, lives and works in New York City.

CALENDAR EDITOR PLEASE LIST: CLASSICAL MUSIC, JAZZ, CONCERTS

PENINSULA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JAN. 17/18 CONCERTS CELEBRATE THREE ERAS OF JAZZ AND SYMPHONIC SYNERGY WITH WORKS BY COMPOSER/PIANISTS EIGSTI, GERSHWIN AND BRUBECK

WORLD PREMIERE BY EIGSTI AND TRIBUTE TO DAVE BRUBECK

Eigsti, Gershwin and Brubeck

Friday, January 17, 2014 at 8 p.m., San Mateo Performing Arts Center, 600 North Delaware Avenue, San Mateo
Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 8 p.m., Flint Center/DeAnza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., De Anza College, Cupertino

Taylor Eigsti, jazz piano, Dayna Stephens, sax

Program: George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Overture to Girl Crazy and Overture to Strike Up the Band

New compositions by Taylor Eigsti

A special tribute to Dave Brubeck

Tickets: $20-$40. Go to

www.peninsulasymphony.org or call 650-941-5291 to place your order.

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