Tuesday Musical presents The Cleveland Orchestra on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at E.J. Thomas Hall, The University of Akron.
About the Program
Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in a brilliantly-orchestrated program that also features pianist Yefim Bronfman www.yefimbronfman.com in Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto.
A cursory glance at the program for January 31st reveals that it will be an evening of musical virtuosity. Pianist Yefim Bronfman, hailed by the New York Times as a virtuoso “defying comparison,” is soloist in Brahms’s monumental Second Piano Concerto. Bronfman is no stranger to Northeast Ohio or the Tuesday Musical concert stage. TMA has presented Bronfman in solo recital and, most recently, as part of a piano trio with violinist Gil Shaham and cellist Lynn Harrell. Now we will have the opportunity to hear him play one of his favorite concerti. Following Brahms will be a recent work by Sean Shepherd, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow.
Music Director Welser-Möst, also, is no stranger to the Tuesday Musical concert stage, and we welcolm his return. Following intermission, he leads the Orchestra in Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. This intense orchestral showpiece of darkness and rhapsodic joy is also a work that provides sheer musical enjoyment for both the musicians and the audience
Program
BRAHMS –Piano Concerto No.2
SHEPHERD – Wanderlust
SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony No. 6
About the Artists
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director
Franz Welser-Möst began his tenure as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra in 2002 and is now in his 10th season. His long-term commitment extends to the Orchestra’s 100th Anniversary in 2018. Under his direction, the Orchestra is enlarging and engaging its community programming at home in Northeast Ohio; is presented in a series of highly successful and ongoing residencies in the United States and Europe; continues its historic championship of new composers through commissions and premieres; and has re-established itself as an important operatic ensemble. Concurrently with his post in Cleveland, Welser-Möst became General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera in September 2010.
With a dedication to music education in Northeast Ohio and a commitment to building future audiences, Welser-Möst has taken The Cleveland Orchestra back into public schools with performances in collaboration with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. This initiative continues and expands Welser-Möst’s active participation in community concerts and educational programs, including the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and partnerships with music conservatories and universities across Northeast Ohio.
Under Welser-Möst’s leadership, The Cleveland Orchestra has established an ongoing biennial residency in Vienna at the famed Musikverein concert hall, and at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland. Together, they have also appeared in residence at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, and at the Salzburg Festival, where a 2008 residency included five sold-out performances of a staged production of Dvo?ák’s opera Rusalka. In the United States, Welser-Möst has established an annual multi-week Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency in Florida and launched a new biennial residency at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival in 2011.
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim (“Fima”) Bronfman is among the most talented virtuosos performing today. He is internationally recognized for his commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts that have won him consistent critical and audience acclaim. His solo recitals, expanding catalogue of recordings and his appearances with the most highly-acclaimed orchestras and conductors in prestigious orchestral engagements around the world have made him a favorite wherever he goes.
Bronfman’s 2011-2012 season began with the Chicago Symphony’s opening Gala conducted by Ricardo Muti, followed by return engagements to the orchestras in Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Portland, OR, and Kansas City. This month finds him in-residency with the Cleveland Orchestra in Miami, Cleveland, Akron and New York focusing on the concerti and chamber music of Brahms. A recital tour in winter will culminate with Carnegie Hall followed by the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s concerto commissioned for him by the New York Philharmonic with whom he will tour the west coast in the spring.
Bronfman had the distinction of appearing as the first classical musician “guest chef” on the hugely popular US TV program Iron Chef America, as well as being a “Perspectives” artist at Carnegie Hall. In 1991, he gave a series of joint recitals with Isaac Stern in Russia, marking his first public performances there since his emigration to Israel with his family at age 15. Also in 1991, he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given to American instrumentalists.
Tuesday Musical Association
Tuesday Musical’s distinguished history with The Cleveland Orchestra began the year the orchestra was founded: 1918. For 94 years, Tuesday Musical has presented the Orchestra at least once a year on its series and sometimes twice in one season. Akron audiences have had the pleasure of getting acquainted with each Music Director over the years, as well as many of the guest conductors and artists.
Pre-Concert Talk
There is a pre-concert talk by Dr. Guy Victor Bordo, Director of Orchestras at The University of Akron. Beginning at 6:00 p.m. in E.J. Thomas Hall, Dr. Bordo will cover a wide range of topics including pertinent historical and personal influences of the composers. Dr. Bordo is an engaging speaker and his talk will provide an excellent entrée to your concert experience on January 31st. These pre-concert talks are free and open to any ticket holder.
Concert Sponsor: Ohio Arts Council
The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Season Support: GAR Foundation, Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation, Ohio Arts Council and The University of Akron
Media Sponsors: WKSU FM and the Ritchie Memorial Foundation
The University of Akron supports this program to encourage educational and cultural growth, excellence and enrichment for all Ohioans.
Tuesday Musical Concerts
Curtain time - 7:30pm
Ticket Prices - $22, $35, $40
Ticket Services
E.J. Thomas ticket office - 330.972.7570
Ticketmaster at 1.800.745.3000
Student Tickets
Students can attend any Tuesday Musical concert at no cost.
Students can obtain a ticket voucher from their teacher or they can pick one up at the student ticket table in the ticket office lobby of E.J. Thomas Hall on the evening of a concert. The voucher is redeemable for a concert ticket at the student ticket table.
Tuesday Musical will also cover the cost of bus transportation for schools bringing more than 20 students to any concert or education outreach opportunity it offers. This must be coordinated through the Tuesday Musical office, 330.761.3460.
