For Immediate Release: Press Contacts: May 17, 2015 Eileen Chambers, 312-294-3092

Photos Available By Request [email protected]

CONDUCTOR CRISTIAN MĂCELARU LEADS THE CSO AND CELLIST IN WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCES OF ’S NEW –OUTSCAPE

Program also includes Ibert’s Bacchanale and Holst’s The Planets

May 26-31, 2016

CHICAGO—Conductor Cristian Măcelaru returns to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in subscription concerts on Thursday, May 26, at 8:00 p.m., Friday, May 27, at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, May 28, at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, May 29, at 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. Celebrated cellist Alisa Weilerstein joins Măcelaru and the CSO for the world premiere performances of French composer Pascal Dusapin’s Outscape for violoncello and orchestra, a CSO co-commissioned work. The program also includes Ibert’s Bacchanale and Holst’s iconic orchestral work The Planets, which received its U.S. premiere from the CSO in 1920 and is performed as part of the CSO’s ongoing 125th anniversary season programming honoring the Orchestra’s tradition of sharing new music with its audiences.

The program opens with Jacques Ibert’s riotous showpiece, Bacchanale, and closes with Gustav Holst’s seven-movement orchestral suite, The Planets, which features the women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus under the direction of Chorus Director Duain Wolfe. Taking listeners on a virtual journey to space with its vivid depictions of Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, The Planets earned Holst popular and critical acclaim at the time of its composition in 1916.

The focal point of the program is the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s Outscape for violoncello and orchestra featuring Weilerstein as soloist. The new work is a co-commission of the CSOA by the Mrs. Harold C. Smith Fund for New Music, Opéra de Paris, and Fundação Casa da Música, in collaboration with Oper Stuttgart—supported by Förderverein der Staatstheater Stuttgart e. V.—and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. While Outscape is Dusapin’s second concerto, it is his first cello concerto written specifically with Weilerstein in mind. Technically challenging, yet filled with a distinct lyricism, Dusapin’s Outscape includes a dynamic dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra throughout the work and is based on

the ideas of escape and return. Dusapin is scheduled to attend the world premiere performance on May 26.

Pascal Dusapin is an internationally renowned composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal and operatic works, who is particularly heralded for writing deeply emotive music. A longtime pupil of composer , Dusapin has also taken great inspiration throughout his career from the work of French composer Edgard Varèse. In addition to composition, Dusapin’s other interests including philosophy, photography and architecture, continue to inform his creative output. Dusapin has received numerous awards, including the 2005 Cino del Duca prize and 2007 Dan David Prize.

Conductor Cristian Măcelaru came to popular attention after leading the CSO as a replacement for then Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez in 2012. Previously Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2011, Măcelaru was later promoted to Associate Conductor in 2012, the same year he was awarded the second-ever Sir George Solti Emerging Conductor Award. In 2014, Măcelaru received the prestigious Solti Conducting Award. He has gone on to make his debut at , Carnegie Hall and with numerous orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. Măcelaru is currently the conductor-in-residence for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Hailed as one of the most promising and unique new artists of her generation, American cellist Alisa Weilerstein has received such accolades as the 2011 MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship, Lincoln Center’s 2008 Martin E. Segal prize, the 2006 Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2000. She has appeared with conductors including Marin Alsop, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Manfred Honeck, , Ludovic Morlot, Donald Runnicles, Yuri Temirkanov, Jaap van Zweden and numerous others. Weilerstein’s first recording features the Elgar and Elliott Carter cello with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin, and was named “Recording of the Year 2013” by BBC Music. Weilerstein’s most recent release is an acclaimed duo sonata album with pianist Inon Barnatan. In addition to performing the world premiere of Outscape with the CSO, Weilerstein is scheduled to give the piece its European premiere with the Stuttgart and Paris Opera Orchestras in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Other new work on the horizon for Weilerstein includes world premiere performances of a cello concerto by composer and conductor Matthias Pintscher in 2017.

Tickets for all CSOA-presented concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312- 294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604.

Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call 312-294- 3040.

Artists, programs and prices are subject to change. Pascal Dusapin’s Outscape was commissioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by the Mrs. Harold C. Smith Fund for New Music.

The appearance of the Chicago Symphony Chorus is made possible by a generous gift from Jim and Kay Mabie.

CSO Tuesday series concerts are sponsored by United Airlines.

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO.

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Chicago Symphony Orchestra Thursday, May 26, 2016, 8:00 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2016, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 28, 2016, 8:00 p.m. Sunday, May 29, 2016, 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, 2016, 7:30 p.m. Chicago Symphony Orchestra Cristian Măcelaru, conductor Alisa Weilerstein, cello Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, chorus director

IBERT Bacchanale DUSAPIN Outscape for violoncello and orchestra (World Premiere, CSO Co-commission) HOLST The Planets, Op. 32

Tickets: $39-$287

Featured Conductors, Performer, and Ensemble for these Programs:

Cristian Măcelaru Alisa Weilerstein Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Duian Wolfe Pascal Dusapin

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. Yo-Yo Ma is the CSO’s 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 59 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, , 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.