Wolf Trap Announces Summer 2014 Symphony, Opera, Dance, and Jazz Season
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March 11, 2014 Contact: Camille Cintrón, 703.255.4096 or [email protected] WOLF TRAP ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2014 SYMPHONY, OPERA, DANCE, AND JAZZ SEASON Season highlights include the National Symphony Orchestra, featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Jean-Yves Thibaudet; Wolf Trap Opera production of Carmen; The Philadelphia Orchestra; Trey McIntyre Project; Pilobolus; Wynton Marsalis with The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; Pat Metheny; and more **ALL PERFORMANCES ON SALE MARCH 29 AT 10 AM** Vienna, VA— Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts announces its 2014 summer symphony, opera, dance, and jazz productions. The expanded fine arts repertoire and guest artists feature some of the greatest performers, ensembles, and classical and crossover programs from each genre. This season’s collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) includes seven performances, featuring conductors Andrew Litton, Grant Gershon, Vince Mendoza, Thomas Wilkins, and NSO Festival Conductor Emil de Cou. Guest artists include iconic cellist Yo-Yo Ma, world-renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter. The schedule also features two NSO performances with film: Pixar in Concert and Disney Fantasia Live in Concert. Wolf Trap Opera’s (WTO) original Operascape production of Bizet’s highly popular Carmen is conducted by Grant Gershon and features the Filene Young Artists, Studio Artists, and the National Symphony Orchestra. WTO also presents a new production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, and a rare pairing of Milhaud’s Le pauvre matelot and Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias, both at The Barns at Wolf Trap. This year, WTO announces internationally renowned bass-baritone Eric Owens as its first Artist in Residence. An alumnus of Wolf Trap’s Filene Young Artist program, the Grammy Award-winning Owens has carved a unique place in the opera world as an esteemed interpreter of classic works and a champion of new music. Wolf Trap proudly welcomes The Philadelphia Orchestra for the first time since 1999 in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by Bramwell Tovey, with The Choral Arts Society of Washington and featuring four Wolf Trap Opera soloists. This concert marks the ensemble’s only appearance in 2014 in the D.C. area. This year’s fine arts offerings include four dance programs, featuring five major dance companies—the most Wolf Trap has hosted in recent years. The 2014 dance programs feature the Trey McIntyre Project, in its final D.C. performance; the mainstream and highly acrobatic works of Pilobolus; the electrifying Noche Flamenca, featuring live music and dance; and a joint bill featuring the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre in a Face of America™ production. This summer, Wolf Trap will also host four three concerts featuring multiple Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis with The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; leading jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and his Unity Group alongside Bruce Hornsby in their Campfire Tour 2014; and a co-bill with saxophonist Boney James and R&B/soul singer Eric Benét in his Wolf Trap debut. Tickets for these performances go on sale at 10 am on March 29 and can be purchased online at wolftrap.org, by calling 1.877.WOLFTRAP, or at the Wolf Trap Box Office located at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts at 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia 22182. All Performances in Chronological Order by Genre SYMPHONY: Pixar in Concert National Symphony Orchestra Emil de Cou, conductor Friday, June 20, 2014 at 8:30 pm Everyone’s favorite animated Pixar films will be projected on the big screen, including Finding Nemo, Up, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc., with their original Academy and Grammy Award- winning scores by Randy Newman, Thomas Newman, Michael Giacchino, and Patrick Doyle performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra. Included in this animated and musical journey will be Pixar’s most recent Academy Award-winning film, Brave. Pixar in Concert © Disney/Pixar In his 10th season as conductor for the National Symphony at Wolf Trap, Emil de Cou is also the music director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. “He’s one of the few conductors trying to open new doors into classical music, either with video…or other new technologies aimed at younger audiences.”—The Washington Post The Philadelphia Orchestra Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Bramwell Tovey, conductor Featuring The Choral Arts Society of Washington and Wolf Trap Opera Soloists Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 8:15 pm Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor (9th Symphony) including the iconic “Ode to Joy” will be performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the world’s leading orchestras, in its only 2014 D.C.-area appearance. “One of the most versatile and charismatic musicians in the world, Bramwell Tovey is a Grammy Award-winning conductor and a renowned composer.”—MusicalAmerica.com. The award- winning Choral Arts Society of Washington joins soloists from the Wolf Trap Opera; Tracy Cox, soprano; Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano; Robert Watson, tenor; and Ryan Speedo Green, bass- baritone. Repertoire: Beethoven: Egmont Overture Britten: Four Sea Interludes Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Matthew Morrison National Symphony Orchestra Steven Reineke, conductor Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 8:15 pm Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe-nominated Matthew Morrison is best known for playing Link in Hairspray on Broadway and Will Schuester on FOX-TV’s Glee, a role that won him a Screen Actors Guild Award. Morrison just released Where It All Began (2013), a collection of classic standards by Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and more. Steven Reineke, principal pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra and music director of The New York Pops, is praised for his creative compositions and presentations. “With the peppy, husky growl of a radio DJ and the fervor of a boxing announcer, Reineke’s excitement and passion for the material is pleasantly infectious to orchestra and attendees alike.”—Edge New York Disney Fantasia Live in Concert National Symphony Orchestra Emil de Cou, conductor Friday, July 11, 2014 at 8:30 pm Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 8:30 pm Experience Disney magic on the big screen when the National Symphony Orchestra casts an enchanting musical spell on sorcerer Mickey and other cherished characters from the animated masterpiece, featuring vibrant interpretations of classical pieces by Beethoven, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and more. Disney Fantasia Live in Concert © Disney Repertoire: Disney’s Fantasia (1940) Fantasia 2000 (1999) Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano Andrew Litton, conductor National Symphony Orchestra Friday, July 18, 2014 at 8:15 pm Hailed as “one of the best pianists in the world” (Baltimore Sun), Jean-Yves Thibaudet continues to captivate audiences around the world with his thrilling performances, profound artistry, poetic musicality, and dazzling technical prowess. Andrew Litton, music director of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, artistic director of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest, and conductor Laureate of Bournemouth Symphony, was recently named music director of the Colorado Symphony. Litton conducts the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies and has a discography of over 120 recordings with awards including America’s Grammy, France’s Diapason d’Or, and many British and other honors. Repertoire: Rossini: William Tell Overture Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 2001: A Space Odyssey Performed by the National Symphony Orchestra Emil de Cou, conductor Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 8:30 pm The sci-fi masterpiece from acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick is one of the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top 10 Greatest Films. A journey through time and space, the film’s score heralded a resurgence in popularity of J. Strauss’ Blue Danube waltz, R. Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, and Ligeti’s Atmosphères. Kubrick’s Academy Award-winning film will be projected on huge screens while the breathtaking score is performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. Mary Chapin Carpenter: Songs From The Movie National Symphony Orchestra Vince Mendoza, conductor Friday, August 1, 2014 at 8:15 pm Mary Chapin Carpenter is a two-time Country Music Associate Female Vocalist of the Year and an inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In January 2014, she released Songs From The Movie, an orchestral reinvention of her music, which was recorded with a 63-piece orchestra and a 15-voice choir. Conductor, arranger, and composer Vince Mendoza has been at the forefront of the jazz and contemporary music scene as a composer and recording artist for the past 20 years. He is a six- time Grammy winner and arranged Carpenter’s new album. Yo-Yo Ma National Symphony Orchestra Thomas Wilkins, conductor Saturday, August 2, 2014 at 8:15 pm Yo-Yo Ma has a discography of more than 75 albums and has won the National Medal of Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and more than 15 Grammy Awards. “This Paris-born, Harvard-educated musician may be the most venerated performing artist today. Which is not at all surprising given his warm personality and peerless musicianship, distinguished by poise, technical prowess and tonal luster.”—Wall Street Journal Thomas Wilkins is music director of the Omaha Symphony and principal guest conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Repertoire: Bernstein: Candide – Overture Bernstein/Harmon: Candide – Suite Grieg: Peer Gynt – Suite No. 1 Dvořák: Cello Concerto OPERA: Handel’s Giulio Cesare The Barns at Wolf Trap Friday, June 27, 2014 at 7:30 pm Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 3 pm Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 7:30 pm Handel’s most popular opera (both during his lifetime and today) focuses on Julius Caesar’s visit to Egypt in 48 BC, during which he encounters the exotic Cleopatra. Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724) juxtaposes the virtuosity of 18th-century opera seria with a real sense of intimacy and emotion.