Violinist Midori Joins IRIS Orchestra This Weekend

Beloved and brilliant violinist Midori will be joining IRIS Orchestra, under the baton of Michael Stern, on stage at GPAC tonight, January 23, and at the new Sunday matinee tomorrow, January 24, sponsored by Pinnacle Financial Partners. A violin powerhouse since her teenage years, Midori reunites with Michael Stern and IRIS to perform Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. IRIS will also be performing Georges Bizet's Symphony in C and American composer, Elliot Carter's Symphony No. 1.

Concert Dates

Saturday, January 23 at 8 pm

Sunday, January 24 at 2 pm

Artistic Director

Michael Stern

Guest Artist

Midori

Location

GPAC: Germantown Performing Arts Center 1801 Exeter Rd. Germantown, TN 38138

Box Office

For tickets (901) 751-7500

For Interviews

Call Nancy Raileanu, Marketing Manager

For Your Calendar

Saturday, January 23, at 1:00-2:15

IRIS Family Concert

Germantown Community Library

1925 Exeter Rd.

FREE

Saturday, January 23 at 8 pm

IRIS Orchestra with Guest Artist, Midori

at GPAC Call for tickets: (901)751-7500

Sunday, January 24 at 2 pm

About IRIS Orchestra

http://www.irisorchestra.org

IRIS Orchestra began as a bold experiment in September, 2000. Still bold, and still experimenting, IRIS Orchestra is in its 16th season as an acknowledged centerpiece of the cultural life of the Mid-South. This astonishing success stems in part from an innovative structure envisioned by Founding Artistic Director, Michael Stern: IRIS Orchestra boasts a stellar roster of talent from the leading orchestras, universities and chamber groups in the country, all of whom share a passionate commitment to the highest standards of performance. These virtuosic musicians, assembled under one roof as the resident orchestra of the Germantown Performing Arts Center in Germantown, Tennessee, have created an exhilarating laboratory for musical discovery. Fundamental to the IRIS philosophy is the idea that the orchestra's members do not simply alight several times a year and leave, but instead put down strong roots in the Germantown/Memphis community. The Host Family program creates lasting bonds between IRIS musicians and their local host families that extend far beyond the concert weeks each year.

Connection to community both on and off stage is at the core of the IRIS mission. From the beginning, the orchestra has made a commitment to deepen and enrich musical education in the Mid-South. IRIS musicians regularly go out into the community to perform for and mentor students at public and private schools, senior centers, and hospitals.

Michael Stern

In North America, Mr. Stern has conducted the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. He has also appeared regularly at the Aspen Music Festival.

Mr. Stern received his music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where his major teacher was the noted conductor and scholar Max Rudolf. Mr. Stern co-edited the third edition of Rudolf's famous textbook, The Grammar of Conducting, and also edited a new volume of Rudolf's collected writings and correspondence. He is a 1981 graduate of Harvard University, where he earned a degree in American history.

Midori

http://www.gotomidori.com/

Today Midori is recognized as an extraordinary performer, a devoted and gifted educator, and an innovative community engagement activist. In recognition of the breadth and quality of her work in these three entirely separate fields, in 2012 she was given the prestigious Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum in Davos, was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Yale University. In 2007, she was named a Messenger of Peace by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In essence, over the years she has created a new model for young artists who seek to balance the joys and demands of a performing career at the highest level with a hands-on investment in the power of music to change lives.

Named Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Southern California in 2012, Midori works with her students at USC's Thornton School, where she is also Jascha Heifetz Chair. Midori thrives amidst the challenges presented by her full-time career as educator at a major university. To these commitments she adds a guest professorship at Japan's Soai University, and substantial periods of time devoted to community engagement work.

Midori's enthusiasm for playing and supporting the music of our time has blossomed into a significant and ongoing commitment. Over the years she has commissioned works for a great variety of forces. Over all, the individuals Midori has sought out to create new repertoire for the violin represent an impressive array of some of the most talented of today's composers.