Pianist Orli Shaham Makes Her Symphony Center Presents Piano Series Debut in 2014/15 Season Finale
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For Immediate Release: Press Contacts: May 22, 2015 Eileen Chambers, 312-294-3092 Rachelle Roe, 312-294-3090 Photos Available By Request [email protected] PIANIST ORLI SHAHAM MAKES HER SYMPHONY CENTER PRESENTS PIANO SERIES DEBUT IN 2014/15 SEASON FINALE Program Focuses on Late Piano Works by and Inspired by Brahms May 31 at 3 p.m. CHICAGO—The season finale of the Symphony Center Presents (SCP) 2014/15 Piano series features pianist Orli Shaham in her series debut on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 3 p.m. Returning to Symphony Center for the first time since her appearance alongside Emanuel Ax in the CSO’s 2012 Keys To the City festival, Shaham performs a program that is anchored by the late piano works of Johannes Brahms—Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118 and Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119. Also on the program are pieces by Bach, Schubert, Schoenberg, American composer Bruce Adolphe and Israeli-born composer Avner Dorman. Shaham’s recital program is inspired by her forthcoming release Brahms Inspired (Canary Classics), a 2-CD set that includes all of the pieces featured on her May 31 Symphony Center recital, as well as several other pieces also inspired by the music of Brahms. Commenting on her choice of the selections on the new release, Shaham says “like works of art grouped in the same room by the museum’s curator, I find the works on this album speak to and illuminate each other.” The May 31 program opens with Bach’s Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major followed by the Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19 by Schoenberg, as well as Brahms’ composition with a similar title—Six Piano Pieces, Op. 119. Shaham’s program continues with Schubert’s Impromptu in G-flat Major, a piece that Brahms admired for its lyrical melodies and rich harmonies. Two works commissioned by Shaham and both inspired by the music of Brahms—Bruce Adolphe’s Intermezzo, My Inner Brahms and Avner Dorman’s After Brahms, along with Brahms’ Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119—complete the program. A critically-acclaimed artist whose career includes performances in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House, Orli Shaham is widely recognized as one of today’s most gifted pianists. She has also appeared at major music festivals including Tanglewood, Ravinia, Aspen and Mostly Mozart. Motivated by her passion to bring classical music to new audiences, Shaham also maintains a career as a respected broadcaster, whose projects include the Dial-A-Musician and America’s Music Festivals series and a role as an artist in residence on NPR’s Performance Today. Tickets for all Symphony Center Presents Piano Series 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. For group rates, please call 312-294-3040. Artists, programs and prices are subject to change. Symphony Center Presents Sunday, May 31, 2015, 3 p.m. Piano series Orli Shaham, piano BACH Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825 SCHOENBERG Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19 BRAHMS Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118 SCHUBERT Impromptu in G-flat Major, D. 899, No. 3 ADOLPHE Intermezzo, My Inner Brahms DORMAN After Brahms BRAHMS Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119 Tickets: $21-$79 # # # This performance is made possible in part by a generous gift from the estate of Halina J. Presley. The SCP Piano series is generously sponsored by Judy and Verne Istock Orli Shaham A consummate musician recognized for her grace, subtlety and vitality, Orli Shaham has established an impressive international reputation as one of today's most gifted pianists. Hailed by critics on four continents, Ms. Shaham is in demand for her prodigious skills and admired for her interpretations of both standard and modern repertoire. The Chicago Tribune recently referred to her as “a first-rate Mozartean” in a performance with the Chicago Symphony, and London's Guardian said Ms. Shaham's playing was "perfection" during her recent Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Orli Shaham has performed with the Boston, Cleveland, and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and Utah Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestre National de Lyon, Taiwan Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic. A frequent guest at summer festivals, she has performed at Tanglewood, Ravinia, Verbier, Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Caramoor, Spoleto, Bravo Vail, Music Academy of the West, Orcas Island, Amelia Island, Peninsula, and Sun Valley music festivals. Ms. Shaham has given recitals in North America, Europe and Asia at such renowned concert halls as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Frankfurt's Alte Oper, and the Herkulessaal in Munich, and has worked with many eminent conductors including Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Roger Norrington, Christopher Hogwood, David Robertson, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, Gerard Schwarz, and Jacque Lacombe among others. Highlights of Orli Shaham’s international performance schedule from 2013/14 include the regional premiere of Stumble to Grace, a piano concerto written for her by the acclaimed American composer Steven Mackey and hailed by critics as a “tour de force,” with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Shaham also performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with the Florida Orchestra conducted by Michael Francis as well as Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Winston-Salem Orchestra, Robert Moody conducting, and Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto with the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine. She will also team up with pianist Igal Kesselman for a performance of Mozart’s Concerto in E flat for Two Pianos with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and conductor Salvador Brotons. Summer performances include the Aspen Music Festival and the Sun Valley Idaho Summer Symphony. In addition, Ms. Shaham celebrates her fifth season as curator and performer in Pacific Symphony’s chamber music series in Costa Mesa, California. Orli Shaham’s highly acclaimed (Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, NPR.org) classical concert series for young children, Baby Got Bach, is in its fourth season. The popular series continues in New York City where it is presented by the 92nd Street Y, and has expanded to venues in St. Louis and Aspen. Designed for preschoolers, Baby Got Bach provides hands-on activities with musical instruments, and concepts and concert performances that promote good listening skills. In 2013, Orli Shaham released a CD of Hebrew melodies entitled Nigunim (Canary Classics) recorded with her brother, the violinist Gil Shaham. Featured on the recording is a new work by the Israeli- American composer Avner Dorman commissioned by the Shahams and the 92nd Street Y in New York. In 2013-14, Ms. Shaham releases two new recordings: one featuring the world premiere recording of Steve Mackey’s Stumble to Grace with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by David Robertson and a solo disc of music by and inspired by Brahms. Ms. Shaham’s other recent recordings include the Brahms Horn Trio and Schubert’s lied Auf dem Strom (Albany) featuring the acclaimed principal French hornist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Richard King; and Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals with the pianist Jon Kimura Parker and the San Diego Symphony. Ms. Shaham's recent highlights include her Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall, her debut with the Malaysian Philharmonic led by Claus Petr Flor and a special appearance at New York's Carnegie Hall where she performed Brahms F minor piano sonata and the F-A-E Sonata with violinist Gil Shaham, and the west and east coast premieres of Steve Mackey’s piano concerto Stumble to Grace. Of her performance of Mozart’s Double Concerto with Emanuel Ax and the Chicago Symphony, the Chicago Tribune wrote “…she showed herself to be a first-rate Mozartean, combining a crisp keyboard touch with an uncommonly nuanced approach to tone and phrase.” Her performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was praised by critic Matthew Guerrieri: “Orli Shaham gave a superb account of the solo piano part, with deep color and fine details,” and the Winnipeg Free Press declared Ms. Shaham’s piano skills “almost too good to be true.” Orli Shaham has returned to Australia again and again in recent seasons, where she has performed a wide variety of composers, including Mozart which she conducts from the keyboard. Driven by a passion to bring classical music to new audiences, Orli Shaham maintains an active parallel career as a respected broadcaster, music writer and lecturer. In 2005, she began collaboration with Classical Public Radio Network as the host of "Dial-a-Musician," a feature she created especially for the radio network. The concept of the program was to enhance listeners' experiences of music and musicians. During the feature she directed listeners' questions about classical music to fellow musicians - by literally dialing them up for the correct answer. Her program hosted over 60 guests including composer John Adams, pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman, Emerson String Quartet violinist Philip Setzer and cellist David Finckel, and sopranos Natalie Dessay and Christine Brewer. Orli Shaham has taught music literature at Columbia University, and contributed articles to Piano Today, Symphony and Playbill magazines and NPR’s Deceptive Cadence blog. Ms. Shaham has served as artist in residence on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. In addition to Nigunim, their forthcoming CD of Jewish music, Orli Shaham and her older brother Gil have collaborated on several recordings including a Deutsche Grammophon recording entitled Dvorák for Two, and an all-Prokofiev disc The Prokofiev Album on Canary Classics, ("As fine a recording of the violin and piano music of Prokofiev as has ever been made by one of the finest violinist and pianist teams of the last ten years." (Barnes&Noble.com) Their recent recording, Mozart in Paris, features Mozart Violin Sonatas, Opus 1 and is available on CD from Canary Classics and as a Euroarts DVD.