FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UPDATED January 31, 2014 DATE: December 17, 2013 New York Philharmonic contact: Katherine E. Johnson +1 (212) 875-5700; [email protected] ASIA / WINTER 2014 TOUR ALAN GILBERT AND THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC FEBRUARY 6–19, 2014 TOUR TO INCLUDE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC’S RETURN TO TOKYO, JAPAN, and SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Orchestra Also To Perform in Osaka, Nagoya, and Yokohama, Japan; New York Philharmonic’s First Concerts with Alan Gilbert in TAIPEI, TAIWAN Tour to Include: Alan Gilbert Narrating in Japanese BRITTEN’S THE YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA in Tokyo The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence YEFIM BRONFMAN To Perform MAGNUS LINDBERG’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Rapture by The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence CHRISTOPHER ROUSE LISA BATIASHVILI To Perform SHOSTAKOVICH’s Violin Concerto No. 1 MAKOTO OZONE and DA SOL Also To Perform as Soloists VERY YOUNG COMPOSERS PROGRAMS in SEOUL and TOKYO CREDIT SUISSE IS THE GLOBAL SPONSOR OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC NEW YORK — Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic on the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour, February 6–19, 2014. The two-week tour — the Philharmonic’s seventh international concert tour under Alan Gilbert’s leadership — will feature ten concerts in three countries, with performances in Seoul, South Korea; Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, Japan; and Taipei, Taiwan. Guest soloists include pianist Yefim Bronfman, the Philharmonic’s Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and violinist Lisa Batiashvili, (more) ASIA / WINTER 2014 / 2 both of whom perform with the Orchestra in Tokyo and Taipei, as well as pianists Da Sol, who appears in Seoul, and Makoto Ozone, in Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama. The tour also features five performances of Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse’s Rapture and two performances of former Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 2, commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic, with Mr. Bronfman as soloist. ASIA / WINTER 2014 will be the Orchestra’s second tour of Asia under Mr. Gilbert’s leadership, coming almost five years after his first tour with the Orchestra as Music Director in the fall of 2009. It will also mark the New York Philharmonic’s eleventh concert tour and third Asian tour under the aegis of Credit Suisse. In addition to the support of Credit Suisse, the New York Philharmonic’s Global Sponsor, the Philharmonic’s appearance February 12 at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall is sponsored by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. A complete schedule of ASIA / WINTER 2014 performances appears at the end of this press release. “One of the most vivid and gratifying memories of my first season with the New York Philharmonic was our visit to Asia, with concerts in Japan and South Korea, in October 2009,” said New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert. “It is with great pleasure that I look forward to returning there, and to making my first visit to Taipei with this Orchestra. This tour will be enriched with the results of some of our most valuable musical partnerships — our current Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse and current Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman, as well as former Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, and with Lisa Batiashvili, a marvelous, natural musician with whom the musicians and I enjoy collaborating. I think we’ll be presenting a real picture of today’s New York Philharmonic for the inspiring audiences in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.” “The New York Philharmonic’s activities on the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour demonstrate what a valuable resource an orchestra can be,” said New York Philharmonic Executive Director Matthew VanBesien. “In addition to Alan Gilbert and the Orchestra’s performances of a truly diverse repertoire — spanning masterpieces by Bernstein, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky; contemporary pieces by Christopher Rouse and Magnus Lindberg; and the jazz-inflected Gershwin — we are showcasing several educational projects on this tour, including the results of Seoul’s and Tokyo’s embrace of our Very Young Composers program, as well as pieces composed by New York schoolchildren inspired by music by their counterparts in Fukushima.” “Asia has been an important destination on this Orchestra’s tours since Leonard Bernstein conducted the Orchestra in Japan in 1961,” said New York Philharmonic Chairman Gary W. Parr, “and that connection has grown and deepened over the last half century. These musicians have never performed better, thanks in great part to the chemistry they enjoy with Alan Gilbert. We are grateful to Credit Suisse, our Global Sponsor since 2007, as well as Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which is providing generous support for the Philharmonic’s appearances in Japan — together they are helping to make it possible for the New York Philharmonic to share our music-making with audiences in Asia.” “Credit Suisse is proud to support the New York Philharmonic and its ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour as the Orchestra’s sole Global Sponsor for seven years,” said Pamela Thomas-Graham, (more) ASIA / WINTER 2014 / 3 Head of Talent, Branding and Communications at Credit Suisse and a member of the bank’s Executive Board. “After such an enthusiastic response to the Asian Horizons tour in 2009, we are once again delighted that this year’s tour will visit a region so important to Credit Suisse. We are looking forward to the many opportunities available for our clients and employees to experience all that the New York Philharmonic’s musicians and Music Director Alan Gilbert have to offer.” The ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour begins with two performances in Seoul, South Korea, at the Seoul Arts Center on February 6 and 7, marking the New York Philharmonic’s eleventh trip to that country and the Orchestra’s first performance there since 2009, when Alan Gilbert led Asian Horizons, his inaugural tour as Music Director. Following the performances in Seoul, the Orchestra heads to Japan, which it has visited 14 times previously, for concerts at the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater in Nagoya on February 9, The Symphony Hall in Osaka on February 10, three concerts at Suntory Hall in Tokyo February 11–13, and Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama on February 15. The concerts in Tokyo also mark the Philharmonic’s first in that city since Mr. Gilbert’s debut tour as Music Director in 2009. ASIA / WINTER 2014 concludes with the Orchestra’s first visit to Taipei, Taiwan, with Music Director Alan Gilbert, and the seventh in its history, where it performs at the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center on February 18 and 19. Tour Programs The repertoire for ASIA / WINTER 2014 will blend works by American composers, the Philharmonic’s current and former Composers-in-Residence, Britten in honor of his centennial year, and canonical masters. ASIA / WINTER 2014 opens in Seoul with Beethoven’s Fidelio Overture — which the Orchestra also performs in Tokyo along with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 — and his Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring Da Sol. The program concludes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, which the Orchestra again plays in Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Taipei. In Tokyo and Taipei, violinist Lisa Batiashvili plays Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Yefim Bronfman, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, performs Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 2; the New York Philharmonic commissioned the work, premiered it with Mr. Bronfman in May 2012 in the Orchestra’s home at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and performed it on the CALIFORNIA 2012 tour. Ms. Batiashvili and Mr. Bronfman will have performed these works with the Philharmonic in New York in January 2014. ASIA / WINTER 2014 showcases a number of American works, including Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse’s Rapture in Seoul, Nagoya, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Taipei, following performances in New York in January 2014; Gershwin’s An American in Paris in Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei; Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Philharmonic Laureate Conductor Leonard Bernstein in Seoul, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Taipei; and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, featuring pianist Makoto Ozone, in Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama. The New York Philharmonic will perform a special concert for families in Tokyo at Suntory Hall, opening with Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, led by Assistant Conductor Joshua Weilerstein, hosted by Makoto Ozone, and narrated in Japanese by (more) ASIA / WINTER 2014 / 4 Music Director Alan Gilbert, whose mother, New York Philharmonic violinist Yoko Takebe, is from Japan. The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra was written in 1946 for the educational documentary Instruments of the Orchestra. The Britten performance continues the Philharmonic’s celebration of the English composer’s centennial season, which begins in New York in November with concerts featuring Britten’s Spring Symphony and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings. Educational Activities on ASIA / WINTER 2014 Tour As part of the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour, the New York Philharmonic will showcase the works of students participating in its Very Young Composers program in both Seoul and Tokyo. Very Young Composers allows students with or without musical backgrounds to create, notate, and hear their own music performed by Philharmonic musicians. The initiative, which began in New York City, is being rolled out in cities throughout the world, often in conjunction with Philharmonic tours. Selected works by participants in the Very Young Composers of Kumdarak — students ages 10–12 who are participating in the new network of Kumdarak Saturday Cultural Schools across South Korea — will be performed by an ensemble including New York Philharmonic musicians in a free concert February 5 at 7:00 p.m.