FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UPDATED May 2, 2017 April 5, 2017 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5700; [email protected] ALAN GILBERT’S FINAL WEEKS New York Premiere of Kravis Emerging Composer ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR’s Aeriality New York Premiere of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence ESA-PEKKA SALONEN’s Wing on Wing With Sopranos ANU and PIIA KOMSI BRAHMS’s Violin Concerto With LEONIDAS KAVAKOS in His Final Appearance in New York as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence May 19–20 and 23, 2017 Saturday Matinee Concert To Feature Schubert’s Piano Quintet, Trout Performed by Philharmonic Musicians In the second of Alan Gilbert’s final four subscription weeks as New York Philharmonic Music Director, he will lead the Orchestra in a program that highlights important artistic relationships he has cultivated during his tenure. The concerts will feature the New York Premiere of Kravis Emerging Composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Aeriality; the New York Premiere of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Wing on Wing with sopranos Anu and Piia Komsi, the former in her Philharmonic subscription debut and the latter in her Philharmonic debut; and The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos in Brahms’s Violin Concerto in his final appearances in that role in New York. The performances will take place Friday, May 19, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 20 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. “I love the connection between Aeriality and the sense of flying in Wing on Wing,” Alan Gilbert said. “The fact that we can bring a very established composer from today — our wonderful Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen — and a wonderful but not-yet-as-well-known composer — our exciting Kravis Emerging Composer, Anna Thorvaldsdottir — together in the same program is an emblem of what we’ve tried to do at the Philharmonic. Our brilliant Artist-in- Residence Leonidas Kavakos, another member of our Philharmonic family, opens this ‘family concert.’” (more) Alan Gilbert / Leonidas Kavakos / Anu and Piia Komsi / 2 The Philharmonic named Anna Thorvaldsdottir the second Kravis Emerging Composer, bestowed on an up-and-coming composer as part of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music, established during Alan Gilbert’s tenure. As part of the honor, Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct the World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Commission of a new work by Ms. Thorvaldsdottir in April 2018. Alan Gilbert’s final four subscription programs as Music Director reflect signature themes of his tenure and feature works that hold particular meaning for him and musicians with whom he has formed close relationships. They also include Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw paired with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (May 3–6 and 9); Wagner’s complete Das Rheingold in concert (June 1, 3, and 6); and Alan Gilbert Season Finale: A Concert for Unity, which celebrates the power of music to build bridges and unite people across borders (June 8–10). A website celebrating Alan Gilbert and the highlights of his tenure as Music Director through video, audio, and photos is available at nyphil.org/gilbertfarewell. The Saturday Matinee Concert on May 20 at 2:00 p.m. opens with Schubert’s Piano Quintet, Trout, with Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples, Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps, Principal Cello Carter Brey, Principal Bass Timothy Cobb, and guest pianist Shai Wosner. The rest of the program features Brahms’s Violin Concerto, with Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos as soloist and conducted by Alan Gilbert. Related Events Philharmonic Free Fridays The New York Philharmonic is offering 100 free tickets to young people ages 13–26 for the concert Friday, May 19 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. Insights at the Atrium — “A Toast to Alan Gilbert” New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert, speaker Adam Gopnik, moderator Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 7:30 p.m. In his final Insights at the Atrium engagement as Music Director and as he concludes his New York Philharmonic tenure, Alan Gilbert sits down with Adam Gopnik to reflect on his eight years leading the Orchestra — the people, projects, and stories. David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Broadway at 62nd Street) 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, (more) Alan Gilbert / Leonidas Kavakos / Anu and Piia Komsi / 3 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 four 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 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). Violinist and conductor Leonidas Kavakos is The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic for the 2016–17 season. His residency features three solo appearances in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary, his Philharmonic conducting debut, a recital with pianist Yuja Wang (presented in association with Lincoln Center’s Great Performers), and a Young People’s Concert. Also in the season he appears with The (more) Alan Gilbert / Leonidas Kavakos / Anu and Piia Komsi / 4 Philadelphia Orchestra; plays and conducts the Houston Symphony; embarks on a recital tour with Ms. Wang in both Europe and the U.S.; and undertakes a European tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and a tour to Switzerland with the Mariinsky Orchestra. Mr. Kavakos had already won three major competitions by age 21: the Sibelius (1985), the Paganini (1988), and the Naumburg (1988). This success led to his making the first recording in history of the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903–04), which won the 1991 Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award. He has since appeared regularly as soloist with the New York, Vienna, Berlin, and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras; London, Boston, and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Philadelphia Orchestras. As a conductor Mr. Kavakos has worked with the Atlanta, Boston, London, and Vienna symphony orchestras; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; and Budapest Festival Orchestra. This season he makes conducting debuts with the Gürzenich- Orchester Köln and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, Mr. Kavakos’s first release on the label, of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas with pianist Enrico Pace (2013), earned him an ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year award. Later recordings include Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly; Brahms’s violin sonatas with Yuja Wang; and, his most recent recording, Virtuoso (released in April 2016).