Violinist Sarah Chang Joins Houston Symphony for a Performance of Barber's VIOLIN CONCERTO Tonight

Tonight, October 2 and October 4 and 5, global violin sensation Sarah Chang joins the Houston Symphony for a performance of Barber's intensely lyrical Violin Concerto. The Korean-American violinist has been touted by The New York Times as "technically brilliant, lively and characterful" and has been captivating audiences since her New York Philharmonic debut at age eight.

In addition to Chang's masterful violin performance, guest conductor and Rice University alumnus Cristian Macelaru will lead the Houston Symphony in Karim Al-Zand's three-part, urban inspired City Scenes and Copland's Symphony No. 3, including a glorious variation on the Fanfare for the Common Man in the Symphony's fourth movement. Rice University's Shepherd School of Music faculty member Al-Zand's City Scenes will include a photographic montage from Houston-based photographer Libbie Masterson as part of the "Sound + Vision" concert series.

Audience members interested in learning more about the background of the music are invited to attend the free Prelude pre-concert discussion 45-minutes prior to the start of the concert. The Prelude will be led by Joshua Zinn with Libbie Masterson and Karim Al-Zand.

Recognized as one of the foremost violinists of our time, Sarah Chang has performed with the most esteemed orchestras, conductors and accompanists in an international career spanning more than two decades. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of eight, Chang has dazzled audiences with her technical virtuosity and emotional depth. In the upcoming season, Chang's appearances in North America will include the New West Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Fresno Philharmonic, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Pacific Symphony and National Philharmonic. Her European engagements will take her to Denmark, the United Kingdom and Turkey, and in Asia, she will appear in concert in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. As a recital and chamber musician, Chang regularly travels throughout the world and has performed with such artists as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2006, Chang was honored as one of 20 Top Women in Newsweek Magazine's "Women and Leadership, 20 Powerful Women Take Charge" issue. In March 2008, Ms. Chang was honored as a Young Global Leader for 2008 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for her professional achievements, commitment to society and potential in shaping the future of the world. In 2005, Yale University dedicated a chair in Sprague Hall in Sarah Chang's name. For the June 2004 Olympic games, she was given the honor of running with the Olympic Torch in New York, and that same month, became the youngest person ever to receive the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame award. Also in 2004, Chang was awarded the Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Sienna, Italy. She is a past recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Gramophone's "Young Artist of the Year" award, Germany's "Echo" Schallplattenpreis, "Newcomer of the Year" honors at the International Classical Music Awards in London, and Korea's "Nan Pa" award. Additionally in 2011, Chang was named an official Artistic Ambassador by the United States Embassy.

Winner of the 2014 Solti Conducting Award, Cristian Macelaru has established himself as one of the fast-rising stars of the conducting world. With every concert he displays an exciting and highly regarded presence, thoughtful interpretations and energetic conviction on the podium. Of his March 2013 appearance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sun-Times exclaimed: "Macelaru is the real thing, displaying confidence without arrogance and offering expressiveness without excess demonstration." Macelaru came to public attention in February 2012 when he conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a replacement for Pierre Boulez in performances met with critical acclaim. Recently appointed Conductor-in-Residence of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Macelaru has conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in subscription concerts three times in recent seasons. He returns on subscription to both Chicago and Philadelphia in the 2014-15 season and has subscription debuts with the Toronto, Baltimore, Houston, St. Louis, Seattle, Detroit, Milwaukee and Indianapolis symphony orchestras in North America; the U.K.'s Hallé Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony; and the Hague's Residentie Orkest in the Netherlands. Replacing the orchestra's Chief Conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Macelaru will have the honor of conducting the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Denmark and on a German and U.S. tour in January and February 2015.

The 11-concert project, which includes Macelaru's official Carnegie Hall debut, celebrates the 150th anniversaries of the composers Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius and features Anne-Sophie Mutter and Ray Chen as violin soloists. In addition to being appointed the 2014 Solti Fellow, Cristian Macelaru previously received the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award in 2012, a prestigious honor only awarded once before in the Foundation's history. He has participated in the conducting programs of the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival, studying under David Zinman, Murry Sidlin, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Robert Spano, Oliver Knussen and Stefan Asbury. His main studies were with Larry Rachleff at Rice University, where he received master's degrees in conducting and violin performance. He completed undergraduate studies in violin performance at the University of Miami.

An accomplished violinist from an early age, Mr. Macelaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony Orchestra and made his Carnegie Hall debut with that orchestra at the age of nineteen. He also played in the first violin section of the Houston Symphony for two seasons. Cristian Macelaru formerly held the position of Resident Conductor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music where he was Music Director of the Campanile Orchestra, Assistant Conductor to Larry Rachleff, and Conductor for the Opera Department. An advocate of music education, he has served as a conductor with the Houston Youth Symphony, where he also conceptualized and created a successful chamber music program. As Founder and Artistic Director of the Crisalis Music Project, Macelaru spearheaded a program in which young musicians perform in a variety of settings, side-by-side with established artists. Their groundbreaking inaugural season produced and presented concerts featuring chamber ensembles, a chamber orchestra, a tango operetta, and collaborations with dancer Susana Collins which resulted in a choreographed performance of Vivaldi/Piazzolla's Eight Seasons. Cristian Macelaru currently resides in Philadelphia with his wife Cheryl and children Beniamin and Maria.

The music of Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand has been called "strong and startlingly lovely" (Boston Globe). His compositions are wide-ranging in influence and inspiration and encompass solo, chamber, vocal and orchestral works. His works explore connections between music and other arts and draw inspiration from varied sources such as graphic art, myths and fables, folk music of the world, film, spoken word, jazz and his own Middle Eastern heritage. Al-Zand's music has enjoyed success in the United States, Canada and abroad, and he is the recipient of several national awards including the Sackler Composition Prize, the ArtSong Prize, the Louisville Orchestra Competition Prize and the "Arts and Letters Award in Music" from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Al-Zand is on the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where he teaches composition and music theory. In his scholarly work, he has pursued several diverse areas of music theory, including topics in jazz, counter-point and improvisation (both jazz and 18th century extemporization). Al-Zand is a founding member of Musiqa, Houston's premier contemporary music group, which presents concerts featuring new and classic repertoire of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Libbie Masterson earned a BFA from the California College of Arts. An interest in landscapes led her through Europe, Norway, Iceland, Alaska and Antarctica. Inspired by these travels, Masterson began a series of photographs illuminated with light panels scaling up to 70 feet that took place at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (2006), the Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston (2007), and the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (2008). In 2008 she also created a stage set, commissioned by the Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre and the Sarasota Ballet. Additionally with Masterson Design, she created a glass mosaic window for the chapel of the Amazing Place, Houston. In 2009, Masterson was awarded an Individual Artists Grant from the Houston Arts Alliance for the creation of a photographic installation of evenings in Texas, exhibited during the winter 2009-10. She continued to develop this evening series, focusing on the landscapes of Provence while serving a residency awarded by the MFAH at the Dora Maar House in the South of France. This series NUIT, exhibited at Wade Wilson Art, was a part of the Fotofest Biennial 2012. Masterson also created a second set design for Dominic Walsh for the premiere of his ballet Claudel. Masterson's photographic work can be seen at the Catherine Couturier Gallery (Formerly John Cleary Gallery), Houston. Masterson also works as the Curator at the Houston Center for Photography and as a jewelry designer for Masterson Design.

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 $30.7 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, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call (713) 224-7575.

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