Gil Shaham to Play Brahms Violin Concerto with Orpheus at Jorgensen Center, 10/14

Grammy-decorated violin virtuoso Gil Shaham will solo for the player-led Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with a program that includes the Brahms Violin Concerto and a new work by Cynthia Wong, a Project 440 winner, on Friday, Oct. 14, at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.

Orpheus, which has built a tradition of touring with the world's best soloists and rising stars, calls Shaham "an old friend." The New York Times calls him "a player of deeply intense sincerity.... One of today's pre-eminent violinists."

The Illinois native, now 40, made his presence known on the world stage at the age of 10 and became a Juilliard scholarship student the next year. Known for his perfect technique and generous playing but mostly for his warmth, he is a match made in heaven for the Brahms, the final piece on the program. The Seattle Times said Shaham's "ravishing" performance of the concerto there was "fueled by the sort of energy and passion that lifts a performance far above the notes on the page."

Orpheus' first ever composer-in-residence, Gabriel Kahane, says in program notes on the Brahms Violin Concerto, "There is probably no piece in the standard repertoire more renowned for its composer/soloist relationship than the Brahms Violin Concerto heard on tonight's program."

Orpheus, a group that proves democracy can yield prime artistic results, has toured the world from Brunei to Vienna and performs an annual series at Carnegie Hall. The ensemble has commissioned 34 original pieces and recorded more than 70 albums, including the Grammy Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures. Its Carnegie performances have been broadcast nationwide to 1.6 million listeners a week.

This season, as it approaches its 40th anniversary in 2012, Orpheus will debut pieces by four winners of Project 440, including Wong's "Memoriam," dedicated to her late father. Wong, a 20something composer of the 21st century, has merited commissions from Tanglewood Music Center, Carnegie Hall and the New Juilliard Ensemble. She will join Orpheus clarinetist Alan Kay in a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 14.

The program also includes the Fair Melusine Overture by Mendelssohn and Haydn's Symphony No. 73, "The Hunt".

Orpheus has taken its model of collective leadership to public schools, Ivy League universities and organizations such as
Morgan Stanley and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, they are launching a year-long residency at University of Maryland and ongoing activities at Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and the University of Connecticut. UConn faculty member Louis Hanzlik plays trumpet for Orpheus.

The chamber orchestra's namesake, Orpheus, was a musician prophet in Greek mythology known for charming even stones with his music. His death came at the hands of those unable to hear it.

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Tickets are $40, $37 and $33, with some discounts. For tickets and information, call the Box Office 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri at 860.486.4226, or order online at: jorgensen.uconn.edu. Free, convenient parking is available across the street in the North Garage.

 

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