FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 1, 2019 Contact: Deirdre Roddin (212) 875-5700; [email protected]

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC YOUNG PEOPLE’S CONCERT Music Across Borders: “Level Up — Beethoven, , and Video Games”

Andrew NORMAN’s Level I, from Play Allegro con brio from BEETHOVEN’s Symphony No. 5 WORLD PREMIERE of VERY YOUNG COMPOSER Kyler Simon’s The Great Adventure

Edwin Outwater To Conduct Nadia Sirota To Host Featuring Composer Andrew Norman and Animation by Steven Mertens Directed by Habib Azar

Saturday, March 2, 2019

The 96th season of the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts (YPCs) will continue on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. with “Level Up — Beethoven, Andrew Norman, and Video Games,” the third program in this season’s series of YPCs, Music Across Borders. Conducted by Edwin Outwater, hosted by The Marie-Josée Kravis Creative Partner Nadia Sirota, and directed by Habib Azar, the program will explore how writing music is like playing a video game — specifically, how the development section of a piece is like creating your own story in a video game. The program will illustrate the concept through the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5; Level I from Play by Andrew Norman, who will speak about his piece; and a new work by 12-year-old Philharmonic Very Young Composer Kyler Simon, who will talk about the process of writing his piece in a video and onstage. Animation by Steven Mertens will accompany the performances of the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Level I from Andrew Norman’s Play.

Created by Jon Deak (Director, Very Young Composers Program) — a composer and former Philharmonic Associate Principal Bass — the Very Young Composers Program enables students from diverse backgrounds to compose music to be performed by Philharmonic musicians, sometimes by the full Orchestra.

Andrew Norman’s Play was awarded the 2017 for Music Composition, named one of NPR’s top 50 albums of 2015, and nominated for a Grammy. He has also written works to be performed by and for young people and serves as the director of the ’s Barry and Nancy Sanders Composer Fellowship Program for young composers. (more)

Young People’s Concert / 2

Attendees are invited to arrive early to take part in YPC Overtures on the Grand Promenade and upper tiers of David Geffen Hall, at which children can meet Philharmonic musicians, try out orchestral instruments, and participate in an interactive performance featuring original compositions by Very Young Composers.

Biographies Edwin Outwater, Nadia Sirota, Andrew Norman, Kyler Simon, Steven Mertens, Habib Azar, New York Philharmonic

Tickets Single tickets to Young People’s Concerts start at $15; all tickets include admission to YPC Overtures. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

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 Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen 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.

For press tickets, call Lanore Carr at the New York Philharmonic at (212) 875-5714, or email her at [email protected].

Event Listing

New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concert Music Across Borders: “Level Up — Beethoven, Andrew Norman, and Video Games”

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Saturday, March 2, 2019, 2:00 p.m. YPC Overtures at 12:45 p.m.

Edwin Outwater, conductor Nadia Sirota*, host / curator Andrew Norman*, speaker Kyler Simon*, speaker Steven Mertens*, animator Habib Azar, director

Music Across Borders: “Level Up — Beethoven, Andrew Norman, and Video Games”

BEETHOVEN Allegro con brio, from Symphony No. 5 Very Young Composer Kyler SIMON The Great Adventure (World Premiere) Andrew NORMAN Level I, from Play

* New York Philharmonic debut (more)

Young People’s Concert / 3

ALL PROGRAMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

* * * Support for Young People’s Concerts is provided by The Theodore H. Barth Foundation and The Brodsky Family Foundation.

* * * Major support for Very Young Composers is provided by Susan and Elihu Rose.

* * * Nadia Sirota is The Marie-Josée Kravis Creative Partner.

* * * Citi. Preferred Card of the New York Philharmonic.

* * * Emirates is the Official Airline of the New York Philharmonic.

* * * Programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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Photography and video are available in the New York Philharmonic’s online newsroom, nyphil.org/newsroom, or by contacting the Communications Department at (212) 875-5700 or [email protected].

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