Alan Gilbert Season Finale: a Concert for Unity
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UPDATED March 28, 2017 March 1, 2017 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5700; [email protected] ALAN GILBERT SEASON FINALE: A CONCERT FOR UNITY ALAN GILBERT TO CONDUCT THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC JOINED BY MUSICIANS FROM ORCHESTRAS AROUND THE WORLD Celebrating the Power of Music To Unite Across Borders June 8–10, 2017 Musicians Invited from CUBA, IRAN, IRAQ, ISRAEL, LEBANON, MEXICO, RUSSIA, SOUTH AFRICA, TURKEY, and VENEZUELA Among Other Countries Program To Include MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 7 Special Guest Artists To Include YO-YO MA (June 8) and WYNTON MARSALIS (June 9) In the final subscription concerts of his tenure as Music Director, Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic joined by musicians from orchestras around the world in concerts celebrating the power of music to build bridges and unite people across borders. Those invited to participate include members of orchestras from Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The program, taking place Thursday, June 8, 2017, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 9 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, June 10 at 8:00 p.m., will include Mahler’s Symphony No. 7. Special guest artists will include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, on June 8, and trumpet player Wynton Marsalis, on June 9. The season finale program was conceived by Alan Gilbert in coordination with the New York Philharmonic, following conversations with the former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and will launch a new initiative to be led by Alan Gilbert following his tenure as Philharmonic Music Director in which musicians from around the world will come together to perform music at critical times in support of peace, development, and human rights. (more) Alan Gilbert Season Finale: A Concert for Unity / 2 “Music has a unique capacity to connect people’s hearts and souls,” Alan Gilbert said. “How can we, as musicians, do our small part to be a positive forum, to help effect social change and respond to adversity in a world faced with unprecedented challenges? With the inspiration of people such as my good friends Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, and Jan Eliasson, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, I wanted these final concerts to call attention to the ways in which music can unite people across borders and spread a message of harmony and shared humanity. The New York Philharmonic, which has always been an international ensemble, has done so much as a global ambassador throughout its history, and I am honored to showcase this message with this great Orchestra in my hometown of New York City.” “The New York Philharmonic’s role as a global ensemble is core to its mission and identity,” said Matthew VanBesien, President of the New York Philharmonic. “There truly are no borders when it comes to music, and our deep partnerships worldwide are examples of this, enriching both our individual musicians and the entire institution. We are honored to join Alan in celebrating the power of music to unite and to effect positive change in the world. We see this as an extension of the role the Orchestra has played since it was founded through landmark performances with the United Nations, historic touring projects, and more. It is an incredibly exciting project and a very fitting way to honor Alan as he moves into the next chapter of his career.” On December 14, 2016, Alan Gilbert conducted the New York Philharmonic in a concert on the floor of the General Assembly to celebrate the tenure of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the transition of leadership to António Guterres, who took office on January 1, 2017. Yo-Yo Ma, a United Nations Messenger of Peace, serves as the artistic director of Silkroad, an organization he founded to promote cross-cultural performance and collaborations at the edge where education, business, and the arts come together to transform the world. Wynton Marsalis — who received the Pulitzer Prize in music for his oratorio Blood on the Fields — is a former United Nations Messenger of Peace and cultural ambassador for the U.S. in the State Department’s CultureConnect program; he was instrumental in the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief concert, which raised more than $3 million to benefit those affected by Hurricane Katrina in the Greater New Orleans area. Musicians Invited from Orchestras Including: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin Philharmonic Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra Czech Philharmonic Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Orchestra of El Gran Teatro de La Habana (more) Alan Gilbert Season Finale: A Concert for Unity / 3 Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional São Paulo Symphony Orchestra Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov” Sydney Symphony Orchestra Tehran Philharmonic Orchestra Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Related Events Philharmonic Free Fridays The New York Philharmonic is offering 100 free tickets to young people ages 13–26 for the concert Friday, June 9 as part of Philharmonic Free Fridays. Information is available at nyphil.org/freefridays. Philharmonic Free Fridays offers 100 free tickets to 13–26-year-olds to each of the 2016–17 season’s 16 Friday evening subscription concerts. Artists As Music Director of the New York Philharmonic since 2009, Alan Gilbert has introduced the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and Artist-in-Association; CONTACT!, the new-music series; the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, an exploration of today’s music; and the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, partnerships with cultural institutions to offer training of pre-professional musicians, often alongside performance residencies. The Financial Times called him “the imaginative maestro- impresario in residence.” Alan Gilbert concludes his final season as Music Director with four programs that reflect themes, works, and musicians that hold particular meaning for him, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony alongside Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, Wagner’s complete Das Rheingold in concert, and an exploration of how music can effect positive change in the world. Other highlights include three World Premieres, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, and Manhattan, performed live to film. He also leads the Orchestra on the EUROPE / SPRING 2017 tour and in performance residencies in Shanghai and Santa Barbara. Past highlights include acclaimed stagings of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd starring Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson (2015 Emmy nomination), and Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake starring Marion Cotillard; 28 World Premieres; a tribute to Boulez and Stucky during the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL; The Nielsen Project; the Verdi Requiem and Bach’s B-minor Mass; the score from 2001: A Space Odyssey, performed live to film; Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony on the tenth anniversary of 9/11; performing violin in Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time; and ten tours around the world. Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and former principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, Alan Gilbert regularly conducts leading orchestras around the world. This season he returns to the foremost European orchestras, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He will record Beethoven’s complete piano (more) Alan Gilbert Season Finale: A Concert for Unity / 4 concertos with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Inon Barnatan, and conduct Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, his first time leading a staged opera there. He made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams’s Doctor Atomic in 2008, the DVD of which received a Grammy Award, and he conducted Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux étoiles on a recent album recorded live at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Gilbert is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School, where he holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. His honors include Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music (2010) and Westminster Choir College (2016), Columbia University’s Ditson Conductor’s Award (2011), election to The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2014), a Foreign Policy Association Medal for his commitment to cultural diplomacy (2015), Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2015), and New York University’s Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City (2016). The many-faceted career of cellist Yo-Yo Ma (performing June 8, 2017) is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Mr. Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras worldwide and his recital and chamber music activities. His discography comprises more than 100 albums, including 18 Grammy award winners. Mr. Ma serves as the artistic director of Silkroad, an organization he founded to promote cross-cultural performance and collaborations at the edge where education, business, and the arts come together to transform the world. More than 80 works have been commissioned specifically for the Silk Road Ensemble, which tours annually. In February 2015 the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma performed alongside the New York Philharmonic, led by Alan Gilbert, for a celebration of the innovative world-music ensemble’s 15th anniversary. Mr.