Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell Returns to The Soraya

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields returns to the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) for the fourth time with its renowned Music Director and violinist, Grammy Award winner Joshua Bell. As one of the world's premier chamber orchestras, the Academy is well-known for its invigorating renditions of the world's most-loved classical music. Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of his era, and his restless curiosity, passion, and multi-faceted musical interests are almost unparalleled in the world of classical music. The orchestra will be performing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 and the Los Angeles premiere of American composer Edgar Meyer's violin concerto Overture for Violin and Orchestra, written for Bell and the Academy. The concert is Thursday, March 15 at 8:00pm.

About Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Formed by Sir Neville Marriner in 1958 from a group of leading London musicians, the Academy gave its first performance in its namesake church in November 1959. Through its live performances and vast recording output - highlights of which include the 1969 best-seller Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the soundtrack to 1985's Oscar-winning film Amadeus - the orchestra quickly gained an enviable international reputation for its distinctive, polished and refined sound.

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is led by Music Director and virtuoso violinist, Joshua Bell. Selected as Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields by the musicians in 2011, Bell is the first person to hold this post since Sir Neville Marriner.

In a recent interview with WRTI in Philadelphia, Bell said of the collaboration with Edgar Meyer, the great double bass player from the bluegrass world, "I've commissioned him to write several pieces for me; most recently, I'm going on tour with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields with his piece Overture, [which] he wrote for us. His music crosses all boundaries. I've learned a lot from him and from others about rhythm and improvisation. Even playing with jazz musicians or bluegrass musicians, hearing them improvise, it actually helps with your classical music. A lot of this music - even the Wieniawski - it's improvisation. Even though you're not improvising notes, you have to play with the improvised spirit. It's all part of being a musician."

Tickets for Academy of St Martin in the Fields priced from $43-$85, are now available at ValleyPerformingArtsCenter.org or by calling (818) 677-3000. The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) is located on the campus of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330, at the corner of Nordhoff and Lindley.

Program
Meyer Overture for Violin and Orchestra
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4
Beethoven Symphony No. 6

About Joshua Bell, (Music Director & Violin)
An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Joshua Bell has recorded more than 40 CDs since his first LP recording at age 18 on the Decca Label, garnering Grammy, Mercury, Gramophone and Echo Klassik awards in the process. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields' first release under Bell's leadership, Beethoven Symphonies No. 4 and 7, debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, and was followed up by the critically acclaimed Bach. Other recent releases include French Impressions with pianist Jeremy Denk, At Home With Friends, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic. His discography encompasses much of the major violin repertoire as well as ground-breaking collaborations across multiple musical genres with respected artists from the worlds of Pop (Sting, Josh Groban), Jazz (Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis), Bluegrass (Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck) and Film (including John Corigliano's Oscar-winning soundtrack, The Red Violin, and the Oscar-nominated score to Ladies in Lavender written by Nigel Hess and starring Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith).

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua Bell received his first violin at age four and at 12 began studying with the legendary Josef Gingold at Indiana University where he now serves as a senior lecturer at the Jacobs School of Music. At the age of 14 Bell began his rise to stardom, performing with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra and at age 17 making his Carnegie Hall debut and touring Europe for the first time.

Perhaps the event that helped most to transform his reputation from 'musicians' musician' to 'household name' was his incognito performance in a Washington, DC subway station in 2007. Ever adventurous, Bell had agreed to participate in the Washington Post story by Gene Weingarten which thoughtfully examined art and context. The story earned Weingarten a Pulitzer Prize and sparked an international firestorm of discussion. The conversation continues to this day, thanks in part to the September 2013 publication of the children's book The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Dušan Petri?i? from Annick Press.

Joshua Bell has received many accolades: in 2013 he was honoured by the New York Chapter, The Recording Academy; in 2012 by the National Young Arts Foundation; in 2011 he received the Paul Newman Award from Arts Horizons and the Huberman Award from Moment Magazine. Bell was named 'Instrumentalist of the Year, 2010' by Musical America and received the Humanitarian Award from Seton Hall University. In 2009 he was honoured by Education Through Music and he received the Academy of Achievement Award in 2008. He was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 2007 and was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2005.

In 2003 Joshua Bell was chosen to perform at the World Economic Forum for an audience of world leaders and was later recognized by that prestigious organisation as a Young Global Leader. Convinced of the value of music as both a diplomatic and educational tool, he has performed for three U.S. Presidents as well as the President of China and has devoted himself to several charitable causes, most notably Education Through Music, which has helped put instruments in the hands of tens of thousands of kids in the inner cities of America.

Joshua Bell performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin and uses a late 18th century French bow by François Tourte.

Find out more about Joshua Bell at www.joshuabell.com

About the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya)
The Soraya opened its 2017-2018 season on September 16 with a performance of AMADEUS Live (Milos Foreman's 1984 Academy Award-winning Best Picture with live orchestra) with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and members of the LA Opera Chorus. The evening honored the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Foundation in recognition of the family's recent $17 million gift that will rename VPAC as the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Performing Arts Center, known as The Soraya. The gift is one of the largest in the history of the California State University and the system's largest single gift to support the arts; gift to support the programming and operations of the award-winning Valley Performing Arts Center - which has become one of the cultural jewels of the region in the six years since it opened.

The 2017-18 Soraya season signals a new era for the premier event venue. Under the leadership of Executive Director Thor Steingraber, the renamed Younes and Soraya Nazarian Performing Arts Center expands its programming and outstanding multidisciplinary performances. The mission of The Soraya is to present a wide variety of performances that not only includes new and original work from the Los Angeles region but also work from around the world that appeal to all of LA's rich and diverse communities.

Located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, The Soraya's season offers a vibrant performance program of nearly 50 classical and popular music, dance, theater, family and international events that will serve to establish The Soraya as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley, and further establish itself as one of the top arts companies in Southern California. The award-winning, 1,700-seat theatre was designed by HGA Architects and Engineers and was recently cited by the Los Angeles Times as "a growing hub for live music, dance, drama and other cultural events."

Photo: Joshua Bell. Photo by Robert Torres

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