Violinist Simone Lamsma to Make Her Debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 6/5-8

Violinist Simone Lamsma makes her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), on June 5-8, with guest conductor Jaap van Zweden leading Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto. Also featured on the program is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47. Lamsma's appearance is endowed in part by the Nuveen Investments Emerging Artist Fund, which is committed to nurturing the next generation of great classical music artists.

Concerts take place at Symphony Center on Thursday, June 5 and Saturday, June 7 at 8 p.m., on Friday, June 6, at1:30 p.m. and on Sunday, June 8, at 3 p.m. This program is part of the CSO's Truth to Power Festival. For more information, visit cso.org/truthtopower.

Britten's Violin Concerto was originally composed to boldly announce the young composer's arrival in America with a magnificent and hope-filled display of virtuosity.

The powerful Fifth Symphony was Shostakovich's "creative reply" to the official condemnation of his opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, criticized as "muddle instead of music" after Stalin viewed the production. It quickly became, and remains today, one of the composer's most popular and most frequently performed compositions.

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO.

Program and Ticket Details

Tickets for all CSO concerts can be purchased by phone at 800?223?7114 or 312-294?3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604.

Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call 312-294-3040.

Artists, programs and prices are subject to change.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Thursday, June 5, 2014, 8 p.m.
Friday, June 6, at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 7, 2014, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 8, 2014, 3 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Simone Lamsma, violin

BRITTEN Violin Concerto, Op. 15
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47

Tickets: $31-$246

Preconcert Programming (June 5-8)

June 5, 6:30 p.m; June 6, 11:45 a.m; and June 7, 6:30 p.m, Grainger Ballroom:
"Best of Britten Film and TV Scores"
This screening of specially-prepared collections of film and television clips features scores by Benjamin Britten curated by John Riley (British Universities Film and Video Council), including Night Mail and Love from a Stranger. This presentation will be followed by a discussion of the evening's repertoire with Derek Matson. Open to all ticketholders.

June 8, 1:30 p.m., Armour Stage: "Confrontation or Collaboration? The Arts Under Stalin"
Clare Cavanagh explores the effect of Josef Stalin's regime on the arts. Presented by the Poetry Foundation. This presentation will be followed by a discussion of the evening's repertoire with Derek Matson. Open to all ticketholders.

About Jaap van Zweden
Amsterdam-born Jaap van Zweden has risen rapidly in little more than a decade to become one of today's most sought-after conductors. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and since 2005 chief conductor and artistic director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Radio Chamber Orchestras (until 2012). Appointed at 19 as the youngest concertmaster ever of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he began his conducting career in 1995 and held the positions of chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (1996-2000), chief conductor of the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague (2000-2005) and chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra (2008-2011). Van Zweden received Musical America's Conductor of the Year Award 2012 in recognition of his critically acclaimed work as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and as a guest conductor with the most prestigious U.S. orchestras.

Van Zweden has worked with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Munich Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and London Philharmonic, and appeared at the BBC Proms, and the Tanglewood and Aspen Festivals. Future plans include his subscription debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and return visits to the Orchestre National de France, the Philadelphia St Louis Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Philharmonic and London Philharmonic Orchestras.

About Simone Lamsma
Simone Lamsma is hailed by critics and audiences around the world for her distinct voice, maturity, technical brilliance and heartfelt musicianship. Conductor Jaap van Zweden describes her as one of the leading violinists in the world. Simone's 2013/14 season highlights include debuts with the Chicago Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, Finnish Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique, Warsaw Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, as well as appearances with the St Louis Symphony and New Zealand Symphony. In addition, she will be embarking on a tour of China with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden.

Simone was awarded the national Dutch VSCD Classical Music Prize in the category 'New Generation Musicians' in 2010, awarded by the Association of Dutch Theatres and Concert Halls to artists that have made valuable contributions to the Dutch classical music scene. In 2011 Simone was invited to perform during the Queen's Day Concert, in the presence of HRH Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands - a concert that was broadcast nationally on Dutch television.

Simone began studying the violin at the age 5. At age 11, she moved to the UK to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School before continuing her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with first class honors and several prestigious awards. In 2011, she was made an Associate of the RAM, an honor given to those students who have made significant and distinguished contributions to their field.

About the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (cso.org)
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Its music director since 2010 is Riccardo Muti, one of the preeminent conductors of our day. Pierre Boulez is the CSO's Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus; Yo-Yo Ma is the CSO's Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant. Mason Bates and Anna Clyne are the CSO's Mead Composers-in-Residence.

The musicians of the CSO annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago and, in the summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. The CSO frequently tours internationally and occasionally performs in other parts of the U.S. Since its founding in 1891, the Orchestra has made 57 international tours, visiting 28 countries on five continents. At home and on tour, tickets are always in high demand and frequently sold out.

People around the globe enjoy the extraordinary sounds of the Orchestra through broadcasts and webcasts of the weekly CSO Radio program and through CSO Resound, the CSO's own record label. Recordings by the CSO have won 62 Grammy Awards®.

The parent organization for the CSO is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA). It also includes the Chicago Symphony Chorus, directed by Duain Wolfe, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a pre-professional ensemble conducted by Cliff Colnot. Through a series called Symphony Center Presents, the CSOA brings internationally known guest artists and ensembles from a variety of musical genres-classical, jazz, pop, world, and contemporary-to Chicago.

The CSOA's Institute for Learning, Access, and Training offers a variety of youth, community, and education programs that engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages, incomes and backgrounds. Through the programs of the Institute as well as many other activities, including a free annual CSO concert, the CSOA promotes the concept of Citizen Musicianship: using the power of music to contribute to our culture, our communities and the lives of others.

A nonprofit organization, the CSOA is governed by a voluntary board of trustees and supported by tens of thousands of other volunteers, patrons and corporate, foundation and individual donors. Deborah F. Rutter, a highly regarded arts executive, is president of the CSOA.

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