FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Contacts: October 2, 2015 Rachelle Roe, 312-294-3090 Eileen Chambers, 312-294-3092
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CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA NAMES NEW PRINCIPAL FLUTE
CHICAGO—Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Music Director Riccardo Muti and CSO Association President Jeff Alexander announce the appointment of Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson as the new Principal Flute of the CSO, effective May 30, 2016.
Höskuldsson appears with the CSO as its guest principal flute twice before his tenure officially begins in May. He has performed in the 2015/16 season-opening weeks of concerts (September 17–October 3) with Muti conducting, and will also perform with the CSO on its tour to Asia in January 2016 with Muti.
Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson is currently Principal Flute of the Metropolitan (Met) Opera Orchestra, a post to which he was appointed in 2008, after serving as that orchestra’s second flute from 2004–2008. In addition to his performances with the Met Orchestra, he has been invited as guest principal flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Mostly Mozart Festival. His extensive solo performances include engagements with the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, recitals at the Sir James Galway International Flute Festival in Lucerne and a live radio broadcast with BBC Radio 3 “In Tune” in London.
Höskuldsson has performed widely throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan under the direction of James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim, Seiji Ozawa, Esa- Pekka Salonen and Riccardo Muti. He regularly performs at Carnegie Hall with the Met Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble and has collaborated in performances and recordings with such renowned artists as pianists Evgeny Kissin, Alfred Brendel and Yefim Bronfman, violinist Gil Shaham, and sopranos Diana Damrau and Anna Netrebko.
A native of Iceland, Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson attended the Reykjavik School of Music in Iceland where he studied with Bernhard Wilkinson. Following his graduation, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where he studied with Peter Lloyd and Wissam Boustany.
Höskuldsson currently teaches at a private studio in New York City and has been a faculty member with the Pacific Music Festival in Japan since 2010. He has given master classes at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music. His debut solo album, Solitude, featuring music by Schubert, Liebermann, Prokofiev and Jóhannsson, was released earlier this year on the Delos label.
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra www.cso.org and www.csosoundsandstories.org/.
Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the preeminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th music director. Pierre Boulez is the CSO’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus, Yo-Yo Ma is its Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, and Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek are its Mead Composers-in-Residence.
From baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892, the CSO has made 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents.
People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT radio network and online at cso.org/radio . Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards, including two in 2011 for Muti’s recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti’s first of four releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at www.cso.org/resound.
The CSO is part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which also includes the Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, Director and Conductor) and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a training ensemble for emerging professionals. Through its prestigious Symphony Center Presents series, the CSOA presents guest artists and ensembles from a variety of genres—classical, jazz, world, and contemporary.
The Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO offers community and education programs that annually engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Through the Institute and other activities, including a free annual concert with Muti and the CSO, the CSO is committed to using the power of music to create connections and build community.
The CSO is supported by thousands of patrons, volunteers and institutional and individual donors. Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. The CSO’s music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. The Negaunee Foundation provides generous support in perpetuity for the work of the Negaunee Music Institute.