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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ARTIST CHANGES December 6, 2012 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] GARY THOR WEDOW To Conduct Handel’s MESSIAH in His Philharmonic Debut Soprano LAYLA CLAIRE Also To Make Her Philharmonic Debut Program’s Previously Announced Performers Include Tim Mead, Kenneth Tarver, Alastair Miles, and the New York Choral Artists December 18–22, 2012 Gary Thor Wedow will conduct Handel’s Messiah, replacing Emmanuelle Haïm, who is unable to travel this month to the U.S. due to a family illness. Soprano Layla Claire will replace Camilla Tilling, who has been advised to take a period of vocal rest. These performances will mark both Mr. Wedow and Ms. Claire’s Philharmonic debuts. As previously announced, the program will also feature countertenor Tim Mead (in his Philharmonic debut), tenor Kenneth Tarver, bass Alastair Miles, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, December 18–22, 2012, all at 7:30 p.m. Artists Conductor Gary Thor Wedow has established a reputation for dramatically exciting and historically informed performances with opera companies, festivals, and choral organizations throughout North America. His most recent successes include Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice and Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Seattle Opera, Wolf-Ferrari’s Le donne curiose for Wolf Trap Opera, and Handel’s Agrippina for Boston Lyric Opera. Mr. Wedow has been closely associated with New York City Opera for many years, and he most recently conducted Christopher Alden’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and the New York premiere of Telemann’s Orpheus. He led Madison Opera’s “Opera in the Park” in July 2012 and recently conducted the Berkshire Choral Society in Salzburg and Mondsee. Highlights of Mr. Wedow’s 2012–13 season include Mozart’s La finta giardiniera for San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Handel’s Xerxes at Indiana University, Handel’s Rinaldo for Portland Opera with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus for Virginia Opera, Handel’s Messiah with the Alabama Symphony, and a return to Seattle Opera for Poulenc’s La Voix humaine and Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Born in LaPorte, Indiana, and now a resident of New York City, Gary Thor Wedow has been a member of The Juilliard School faculty since 1994 and has led performances there of (more) Messiah / Gary Thor Wedow / Layla Claire / 2 Monteverdi’s L'Incoronazione di Poppea, La finta giardiniera, Agrippina, and Don Giovanni. He has prepared several performing editions of Baroque works in collaboration with countertenor Lawrence Lipnik. Mr. Wedow’s long association with director Stephen Wadsworth has included productions of Handel’s Xerses and Ariodante as well as Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. Mr. Wedow has been a frequent guest of Florida Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Glimmerglass Opera, Berkshire Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Amherst Early Music Festival, and Pittsburgh Opera. His wide-ranging repertoire includes Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, both Sartorio and Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Bizet’s Carmen, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, Puccini’s La bohème, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, and several world premieres. Choral masterpieces and symphonic repertoire have taken him to the podiums of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, and Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, where he was associate conductor for many years. As a pianist, Mr. Wedow studied with Jorge Bolet. Soprano Layla Claire’s interpretations of Mozart’s heroines have garnered accolades throughout North America and Europe. She was hailed as “the quintessential Susanna” for her 2009 performances in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at Palm Beach Opera, and she performed the roles of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni to great acclaim with James Levine and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. With the Curtis Opera Theatre she sang the roles of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Contessa in The Marriage of Figaro. In 2010 she appeared with the Académie d’Aix-en-Provence, where she was awarded the Prix des amis d’Aix-en-Provence for best Mozart performance. Ms. Claire made her Metropolitan Opera debut in November 2010 as Tebaldo in Nicholas Hytner’s production of Verdi’s Don Carlo conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In December 2011 she created the role of Helena in The Enchanted Island, The Metropolitan Opera’s Baroque pastiche, conducted by William Christie. During the 2011–12 season she made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall, and she has appeared with the Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Baltimore, and Kansas City symphony orchestras. In 2010 Layla Claire became the first recipient of the Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award. She received the Mozart Prize at the Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition in 2008 and was a Queen Elisabeth Competition Laureate. She is also a CBC Radio-Canada Jeunes Artistes recital winner, a recipient of J. Desmarais Foundation Bursaries, and a recipient of a Canada Council Grant. She has taken prizes at the Palm Beach Opera Competition, George London Foundation Competition, and Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists. She was recently featured in two documentaries: the BBC’s What Makes A Great Soprano? hosted by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the PBS American Masters special James Levine: America’s Maestro. (more) Messiah / Gary Thor Wedow / Layla Claire / 3 Ms. Claire participated in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera beginning in the 2009–10 season. Originally from Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, she studied voice at the University of Montreal before attending The Curtis Institute of Music. She currently resides in New York City. * * * Credit Suisse is the Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic. * * * The performances of Handel’s Messiah are presented by the Robert Hekemian Family Foundation. * * * Programs of the New York Philharmonic are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. * * * Tickets Single tickets start at $33. Pre-Concert Talks are $7; discounts are available for multiple concerts, students, and groups (visit nyphil.org/preconcert for more information). All other tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one- half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. A limited number of $13.50 tickets may be available through the Internet for students within 10 days of the performance, or in person the day of. Valid identification is required. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic’s Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656. [Ticket prices subject to change.] For press tickets, call Lanore Carr in the New York Philharmonic Communications Department at (212) 875-5714, or e-mail her at [email protected]. (more) Messiah / Gary Thor Wedow / Layla Claire / 4 New York Philharmonic Avery Fisher Hall Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 19, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, December 20, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 21, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 22, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Talk (one hour before each concert) with composer Joelle Wallach Gary Thor Wedow, conductor* Layla Claire, soprano* Tim Mead, countertenor* Kenneth Tarver, tenor Alastair Miles, bass New York Choral Artists, Joseph Flummerfelt, director HANDEL Messiah *denotes New York Philharmonic debut # # # Tumblr — Your Backstage Pass Photography is available by contacting the Communications Department at (212) 875-5700; [email protected]. .