FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WSO opens new season with Dvořák’s New World

Winnipeg, MB – September 15, 2014 - Fresh from New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Music Director and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) launch their 2014-2015 season on September 26 & 27 with a concert inspired by the human ideal of freedom. Featuring Dvořák’s inimitable Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” Gershwin’s swinging Piano Concerto in F with Natasha Paremski in her second performance at the WSO, and Copland’s stirring Canticle of Freedom with the University of Manitoba Singers, this is a concert not to be missed.

“We explore the importance of freedom and the heartbeat of humankind as we begin our new season,” says Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate. “I look forward to sharing these experiences with our musicians and our audience as we begin our season.”

Audience favourite Dvořák’s New World Symphony is a powerful and spiritual work written to celebrate the fourth centennial of Columbus’s so-called discovery of America with rich, memorable melodies influenced by the Deep South and Native American folk music.

26-year-old pianist Natasha Paremski returns to WSO to perform Gershwin’s Piano Concerto, which premiered in New York in 1925. With consistently striking and dynamic performances, Paremski showcases an artistic maturity far beyond her years. This work brilliantly explores the tang of jazz found in musical America. The composer himself said the quick pace of the first movement represents “the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life.”

“I find Gershwin to be a composer whose genius lies in his unique idiomatic style, a style which cannot be mistaken for any other composer,” says Paremski. “His music is also so quintessentially ‘American.’ I love this Concerto for its freshness, exuberance, and its soulful jazziness. I very much look forward to playing it with the amazing musicians of the Winnipeg Symphony and Alexander Mickelthwate!”

“Freedom is a noble thing!” states the first line of Aaron Copland’s Canticle of Freedom. The work is an affirmation of academic, artistic and political freedom and is an inspired call to the highest ideals of our time. With confident melodies, ripe percussion writing and a jubilant finish, the WSO has programmed this work to pay tribute to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a unifying theme in found in this season’s Masterworks series.

Dust off the Dress also returns, an exclusive event for WSO Soundcheck members, inviting the under 30 crowd to dress in their formal best while they enjoy a complimentary post-concert reception on the Piano Nobile level. Plus, Aveda Institute & Academy Salon will provide the Pop- up Beauty Bar where attendees can get beauty touch-ups at before both the concert and at the reception.

In addition to two evening concerts, the opening weekend also includes a matinee performance of the New World Symphony on Friday morning. On Sunday the WSO will perform the Dvořák: New World program to open the WSO in Brandon series. Masterworks A Dvořák: New World Friday, September 26 - 8:00 PM Saturday, September 27 - 8:00 PM Centennial Concert Hall Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor; Natasha Paremski, piano; University of Manitoba Singers, Elroy Friesen, director

Pre-concert chat on the Piano Nobile of the Centennial Concert Hall begins 45 minutes prior to evening concert.

Masterworks A Series Sponsor:

Soundcheck Event: Dust off the Dress Friday, September 26 – Post-Concert Centennial Concert Hall

Soundcheck Sponsored by:

Event Partner: Media Sponsor:

Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 Matinee Friday, September 26 - 10:30 am Centennial Concert Hall Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

WSO in Brandon Dvořák: New World Sunday, September 28 - 3:00 pm Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor; Natasha Paremski, piano; Brandon University Concert Choir, Andrée Dagenais, director

Pre-concert chat in the lobby in Brandon begins 45 minutes prior to concert.

WSO in Brandon Series Sponsor:

Winnipeg Individual Concert Tickets start at $32.00 and are available through Ticketmaster: 1.855.985.ARTS or Ticketmaster.ca; or at the WSO Box Office: 204.949.3999 or wso.ca

Brandon Individual Concert Tickets are $51, $47 seniors, $12.50 student, available through the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium Box Office: 204-728-9510 or www.wmca.ca

The WSO is integral to Winnipeg's rich cultural life, delighting more than 100,000 audience members each year with innovative programming and musical excellence. The WSO presents educational programs for more than 25,000 students annually and tours outside the city reaching out to communities across Manitoba.

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MEDIA CALL: Friday, September 26 11:45 am – 12:15 pm Centennial Concert Hall; Media to arrive at back stage entrance Lily Street

MEDIA: For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact: Sarah Panas, Marketing & Communications Coordinator p. (204) 949-3970 f. (204) 956-4271 e: [email protected]

SUPPORT MATERIALS

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has the good fortune to be located in a culturally vibrant city with a history of supporting cultural and community activities with enthusiasm and discernment. The WSO has been a vital component of the community since its incorporation on February 13, 1947. The debut concert was held on December 16, 1948 in the Civic Auditorium to an audience of 3,000 with Walter Kaufmann conducting. Subscription prices for the first season of five concerts ranged from $3 to $8 with single tickets starting at $.75.

Walter Kaufmann was the orchestra’s first music director and following him came , George Cleve, , , , , and since 2005, Alexander Mickelthwate. Under their guidance, the orchestra has both earned a place among the ranks of major Canadian symphony orchestras and has come to be regarded as among Canada’s most innovative. Some of the eminent soloists who have appeared with the WSO include conductors Pierre Monteux, John Barbirolli and Arthur Fiedler; violinists David Oistrakh and Itzhak Perlman; pianists Glenn Gould, Byron Janis, Gary Graffman, Leon Fleisher; singers Marilyn Horne and Maureen Forrester; cellists Zara Nelsova and Jacqueline du Pré and many others.

The WSO has toured throughout Canada, and made a first appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1979. The orchestra has worked very closely with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation since 1954 when the CBC began broadcasting portions of WSO concerts. The orchestra has released numerous recordings on the CBC label and has given thousands of national radio broadcasts since its inception. In addition to its own extensive season of concerts and educational activities, the WSO functions as the official orchestra of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Manitoba Opera Association.

The WSO has developed an international reputation for its annual New Music Festival. Founded in January 1992 by Music Director Bramwell Tovey and the WSO’s first composer-in-residence, Glenn Buhr, the New Music Festival has provided an environment rich in exploration and discovery of new works by composers from Canada and around the world. It was in the New Music Festival that programming proposed for the Spring for Music Festival was first programmed and performed for the loyal New Music Festival audiences in Winnipeg. This appearance at Carnegie Hall on May 8, 2014 was a success for the WSO artistically, financially and on a community level. Hundreds of Manitobans travelled to New York to attend the concert and the celebratory after party at The Russian Tea Room that was attended by 720 people.

Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director

German conductor Alexander Mickelthwate is renowned for his “splendid, richly idiomatic readings” (LA Weekly), “fearless” approach and “first-rate technique” (Los Angeles Times). Critics have noted Alexander’s extraordinary command over the Austro-Germanic repertoire, commenting on the “passion, profundity, emotional intensity, subtlety and degree of perfection achieved” in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 as “miraculous” (Anton Kuerti, 2011).

Following on from his tenure as assistant conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which he completed in 2004, Alexander Mickelthwate was associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for three years, under the direction of Essa-Pekka Salonen. Now in his eighth season as music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Alexander has significantly developed the orchestra’s profile through active community engagement and innovative programming initiatives like the annual New Music Festival and the Indigenous Music Festival. Chosen to perform at the Carnegie Hall Spring For Music Festival in New York, May 2014, due to “creative and innovative programming” (CBC Manitoba Scene), the orchestra is the only Canadian ensemble in the showcase. As well as significantly contributing to the New Music Festival and Indigenous Festival, Alexander lead the orchestra’s first out of province tour since 1979 to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, launched the International Conducting masterclasses, the New Music Festival 2012 film project and played a major part in the acoustic overhaul of the Centennial Concert Hall.

Natasha Paremski

With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, 26-year-old pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and voracious interpretive abilities. Born in Moscow, she began her piano studies at age four, emigrated with her family to the United States in 1995 and became a US citizen in 2001. Her professional debut was at age nine and at fifteen, she performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as recorded two discs with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitry Yablonsky. In September 2010, Natasha was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year and released her first recital album in 2011.

University of Manitoba Singers, Elroy Friesen, director

The last three decades have brought the University Singers to prominence as a performing ensemble in Canada; they have performed and recorded with organizations such as the Hilliard Ensemble, the WSO, the Penderecki String Quartet and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Most recently they performed works by Schnittke and Auerbach with the Latvian Radio Choir. In addition to the University Singers’ extensive performance of new works, they regularly perform traditional choral repertoire. Recent concerts have included Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium, Mozart’s Requiem and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. The University Singers have placed first in the CBC National Choir Competitions. They have toured extensively throughout the Americas and Europe and will be performing in Serbia and Hungary in May 2014.

MEDIA: For additional support materials including images, please contact: Sarah Panas, Marketing & Communications Coordinator p. (204) 949-3970 f. (204) 956-4271 e: [email protected]