FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UPDATED October 13, 2016 September 16, 2016 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC BEGINS NEW SEASON OF YOUNG PEOPLE’S CONCERTS The Ages of Music: “Baroque” Saturday, October 22, 2016 The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos To Conduct and Perform Assistant Conductor Joshua Gersen To Conduct Philharmonic Vice President, Education, Theodore Wiprud To Host The 94th season of the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts (YPCs) will begin on Saturday, October 22, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. with “Baroque,” the first program in this season’s series, The Ages of Music — each program exploring the sound, composers, and culture of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras, respectively. The program will include the first movement of J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in D minor (reconstructed), BWV 1052, led and performed by The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos; Overture, Bourée, and Gigue from J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major; the third movement of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; G. Gabrieli’s Canzona per sonar No. 1, La spiritata, performed by Philharmonic Principal Trumpet Christopher Martin, trumpet player Ethan Bensdorf, hornist R. Allen Spanjer, and trombonist David Finlayson; and Handel’s “Da tempeste il legno infranto” from Giulio Cesare, with soprano Hyesang Park as soloist in her Philharmonic debut. Assistant Conductor Joshua Gersen will conduct the program, with the exception of J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in D minor; Vice President, Education, Theodore Wiprud will host the event, which will also feature dancers Thomas Baird and Quilan Arnold. Attendees are invited to come early to take part in YPC Overtures, at which children meet Philharmonic musicians and try out orchestral instruments on the Grand Promenade and upper tiers of David Geffen Hall, starting at 12:45 p.m. Pre-concert activities inside the hall include live performances by ensembles of Philharmonic musicians of works by Very Young Composers inspired by the YPC’s thematic content. This performance is among Leonidas Kavakos’s first as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist- in-Residence. He will make his Philharmonic conducting debut October 20–22 and 25, 2016, leading and performing J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in D minor (reconstructed), BWV 1052, and conducting Busoni’s Berceuse élégiaque and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. (more) Young People’s Concert / 2 Artists Joshua Gersen, music director of the New York Youth Symphony since September 2012, began his tenure as New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor in September 2015. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller and was the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony, where he served as assistant conductor to artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas, and led subscription, education, and family concerts. Mr. Gersen made his conducting debut with the San Francisco Symphony in the fall of 2013; he has since led that orchestra numerous times, including filling in for Tilson Thomas on part of a subscription series. Joshua Gersen was the principal conductor of the Ojai Music Festival in 2013; has conducted the Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Jacksonville symphony orchestras; and has served as a cover conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and many other orchestras throughout the United States. Winner of a Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, he is also a recipient of the 2010 Robert Harth Prize and 2011 Aspen Conducting Prize from the Aspen Summer Festival, where he served as assistant conductor in the summer of 2012. Mr. Gersen is also an avid composer, and his works have been performed by the New Mexico and Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestras as well as the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestra and at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Mr. Gersen received his bachelor of music degree in composition from the New England Conservatory, studying with Michael Gandolfi. His work as a composer has led to an interest in conducting contemporary music; he has led World Premieres with the New World Symphony and New York Youth Symphony, and has collaborated with many composers including John Adams, Christopher Rouse, Steven Mackey, Mason Bates, and Michael Gandolfi. Joshua Gersen made his New York Philharmonic debut leading a Young People’s Concert in December 2015; most recently, in July 2016, he led the Orchestra in a Young People’s Concert in Shanghai as part of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Residency Partnership. The New York Philharmonic has named violinist and conductor Leonidas Kavakos The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence for the 2016–17 season. His residency features three solo appearances in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary, his Philharmonic conducting debut, a recital with pianist Yuja Wang (presented in association with Lincoln Center’s Great Performers), and a Young People’s Concert. Also in the season he appears with The Philadelphia Orchestra; plays and conducts the Houston Symphony; embarks on a recital tour with Ms. Wang in both Europe and the U.S.; and undertakes a European tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and a tour to Switzerland with the Mariinsky Orchestra. Mr. Kavakos had already won three major competitions by age 21: the Sibelius, the Paganini, and the Naumburg. This success led to his making the first recording in history of the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903–04), which won the 1991 Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award. He has since appeared regularly as soloist with the Vienna, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras; London, Boston, and Chicago symphony orchestras; and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw and Philadelphia Orchestras. As a conductor Mr. Kavakos has worked with the Atlanta, Boston, London, and Vienna symphony orchestras; Deutsches Symphonie- Orchester Berlin; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; and Budapest Festival Orchestra. This season he makes conducting debuts with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. (more) Young People’s Concert / 3 An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, Mr. Kavakos’s first release on the label, of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas with pianist Enrico Pace (2013), earned him an ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year award. Later recordings include Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly; Brahms’s violin sonatas with Yuja Wang; and, his most recent recording, Virtuoso (released in April 2016). His earlier discography includes recordings for BIS, ECM, and Sony Classical. Mr. Kavakos was named Gramophone Artist of the Year 2014. Leonidas Kavakos plays the “Abergavenny” Stradivarius violin of 1724. He made his New York Philharmonic debut playing Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy as part of a July 2002 Concerts in the Parks performance, led by Bramwell Tovey; he will have most recently joined the Orchestra leading and performing J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in D minor (reconstructed), BWV 1052, and conducting Busoni’s Berceuse élégiaque and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in his Philharmonic conducting debut. Theodore Wiprud — New York Philharmonic Vice President, Education, The Sue B. Mercy Chair — has directed the Orchestra’s Education Department since 2004. The Philharmonic’s education programs include the famed Young People’s Concerts (which Mr. Wiprud hosts), Philharmonic Schools (an immersive classroom program that reaches thousands of New York City students), Very Young Composers (which enables students to express themselves through original works, often performed by Philharmonic musicians), adult education programs, and many special projects. Mr. Wiprud has also created innovative programs as director of education and community engagement at the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra; served as associate director of The Commission Project; and assisted the Orchestra of St. Luke’s on its education programs. He has worked as a teaching artist and resident composer in a number of New York City schools. From 1990 to 1997 he directed national grant-making programs at Meet the Composer. Prior to that position, he taught at and directed the music department for Walnut Hill School, a pre-professional arts boarding school near Boston. Mr. Wiprud is also an active composer, whose Violin Concerto (Katrina) was released on Champs Hill Records. His music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and voice is published by Allemar Music. Theodore Wiprud holds degrees from Harvard and Boston Universities and studied at Cambridge University as a visiting scholar. South Korean soprano Hyesang Park is making a name for herself in international competitions. In the last year she has placed in three competitions: first prize in the April 2016 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Competition; second prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2015 Montreal International Musical Competition; and second place overall in the women’s division of Placido Domingo’s International Operalia competition, as well as first prize in the women’s zarzuela. She served as a Young Artist in Residence at the Music & Vin 2016 Festival in Beaune, France, and recent performances include a concert with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; a concert with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by James Levine, and the title role of Bellini’s La Sonnambula in a joint production by The Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and The Juilliard School. Highlights of the 2016–17 season are performances in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette with the Korea National Opera in Seoul, and as the First Wood Nymph in Dvořák’s Rusalka with The Met. Future engagements include her United Kingdom opera debut at the Glyndebourne Festival. (more) Young People’s Concert / 4 Thomas Baird is a historical dance specialist and co-director of Apollo’s Banquet, a New York City-based Baroque dance and music ensemble.