Violinist Augustin Hadelich Returns to Houston with Mozart's SYMPHONY NO. 39 This Weekend

The Houston Symphony will host acclaimed violinist Augustin Hadelich and guest conductor Gilbert Varga on this weekend, March 26-29 in Mozart's Symphony No. 39, a delightful composition with an optimistic spirit.

Mozart wrote the final three symphonies in a span of nine weeks, during which time he was also giving piano lessons, tending a sick wife and trying to overcome a cash-flow crisis. Violinist Augustin Hadelich shares Mozart's spirit of perseverance. The violinist overcame severe injuries from a house fire as a teen, going on to become the world-renowned musician that he is today. The Houston Chronicle raved about the gifted violinist during his last performance in Houston, "Hadelich exerted the kind of excitement that threatens to lift the listener right out of his seat."

Conductor Gilbert Varga, well-known for his commanding presence and elegant baton technique, leads the Houston Symphony on a journey of forbidden love with Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's beloved play, with its invigorating instrumental effects. Varga's recent CD recording of concertos by Ravel and Prokofiev with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Anna Vinnitskaya on Naïve Records was critically acclaimed internationally. It was given five stars by BBC Music Magazine.

Mozart's Symphony No. 39
Thursday, March 26, 2015, 8:00pm
Saturday, March 28, 2015, 8:00pm
Sunday, March 29, 2015, 2:30pm
Gilbert Varga, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

Mendelssohn: Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2
Mozart: Symphony No. 39
Tickets from $25
At Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St., Houston, TX 77002

A free Prelude pre-concert discussion led by Jerry Hou will be held 45-minutes prior to the start of the concerts at Jones Hall on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

About Augustin Hadelich - Augustin Hadelich has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists of his generation. Featured on the cover of the May 2014 issue of Strings Magazine, he is also becoming a familiar figure in Europe and Asia, continuing to astonish audiences with his phenomenal technique, poetic sensitivity and gorgeous tone. His remarkable consistency throughout the repertoire, from Paganini to Adès, is seldom encountered in a single artist.

Worldwide appearances span the globe: in the U.S., the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, among others; and internationally, the BBC Philharmonic/Manchester, BBC Symphony/Barbican, Dresden Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, NHK Symphony/Tokyo, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the SWR/Stuttgart, to name a few.

Highlights of Mr. Hadelich's 2014/2015 season include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, and the London Philharmonic, as well as repeat engagements with the New York Philharmonic and the symphonies of Baltimore, Houston, Indianapolis, Liverpool, Saint Louis, and Seattle. Also active as recitalist and chamber musician, his other recent projects include an Artist-in-Residency with the Netherlands Philharmonic, tours with both the Toronto and San Diego symphonies, and a recital debut at Wigmore Hall in London.

In addition to several recital CDs, Mr. Hadelich's first major orchestral recording, featuring the violin concertos of Jean Sibelius and Thomas Adès (Concentric Paths) with Hannu Lintu conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, was released to great acclaim in March 2014 on the AVIE label. The disc has been nominated for a Gramophone Award, as well as listed by NPR on the Top 10 Classical CDs of 2014. A recent recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and Bartók's Concerto No. 2 with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Miguel Harth-Bedoya is scheduled for release on AVIE in the spring of 2015.

The 2006 Gold Medalist of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Mr. Hadelich is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2009), a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in the UK (2001), and Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award (2012). He received an artist diploma from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Joel Smirnoff.

Mr. Hadelich plays on the 1723 "Ex-Kiesewetter" Stradivari violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

About Gilbert Varga - Gilbert Varga, son of the celebrated Hungarian violinist Tibor Varga, studied under three verydifferent and distinctive maestros: Franco Ferrara, Sergiu Celibidache and Charles Bruck. A commanding and authoritative figure on the podium, Varga is renowned for his elegant batontechnique, and has held positions with and guest-conducted many of the major orchestras acrossthe world.

In North America, Varga regularly guest conducts the symphony orchestras of Houston, St Louis, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Utah and Nashville amongst others and in 2014/15 makes his debut with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra of the Colburn Conservatory of Music, LA. In Europe, Varga works regularly with the major orchestras of Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Cologne, Madrid, Budapest, Brussels and Glasgow amongst others and in 2014/15 looks forward to his debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In May 2013 Varga was appointed Principal Conductor of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, an appointment that comes at an exciting time for the orchestra as the city of Taipei embarks upon a journey to build the orchestra its own concert hall, a process in which Varga will be heavily involved as Consultant.

Repeatedly acclaimed for his ability to draw out a broad range of colors and emotions from the orchestra, Varga's programs frequently feature the ballet suites, tone poems and symphonies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of a recent performance of Kodály's Dances of Galánta, the Leipziger-Volkszeitung commented: "The Hungarian gypsies were lascivious and witty under Varga's baton, full of fire with ardent strings and blazing brass. The oboe, clarinet and horn gave beautiful solos, and the flutes and piccolo were so soft, that the delicate pizzicato sounded almost coarse."

In the earlier part of his conducting career Varga concentrated on work with chamber orchestras, particularly the Tibor Varga Chamber Orchestra, before rapidly developing a reputation as a symphonic conductor. He was Chief Conductor of the Hofer Symphoniker between 1980 and 1985, and from 1985 to 1990 he was Chief Conductor of the Philharmonia Hungarica in Marl, conducting their debut tour to Hungary with Yehudi Menuhin. In 1991 Varga took up the position of Permanent Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra until 1995, and from 1997 to 2000 was Principal Guest of the Malmö Symphony. From 1997 to 2008, Varga was Music Director of the Basque National Symphony Orchestra, leading them through ten seasons, including tours across the UK, Germany, Spain and South America.

Varga's discography includes recordings with various labels including ASV, Koch International and Claves Records. His latest recording, released in January 2011, of concertos by Ravel and Prokofiev with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Anna Vinnitskaya on Naïve Records was given five stars by BBC Music Magazine.

About the Houston Symphony - During the 2014-15 season, the Houston Symphony enters its second century as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. This season also marks the inaugural year for new Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada. 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 on June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $29 million, the full-time ensemble of 87 professional musicians is the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 286 performances for 300,000 people, including 82,000 children, annually. For tickets and more information, visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.

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