Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Celebrates 30th Anniversary Season in 2012-2013
Four-concert series at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
The debut of new Music Director Ronald Feldman
Four gifted, early-career soloists from Young Concert Artists
Concerts benefiting four Boston nonprofit organizations
(BOSTON, August 30, 2012) – The Longwood Symphony Orchestra (LSO) announces its 2012-2013 season, featuring four concerts at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Established in 1982, the LSO is a distinctive organization in Boston’s cultural landscape recognized for its musical quality, innovative programming, and unique business model of community engagement. Positioned at the crossroads of the arts and the sciences, the orchestra’s membership is composed mainly of health-care professionals, including doctors, medical students, research scientists, nurses, therapists, and other caregivers.
2012-2013 SEASON
The Longwood Symphony Orchestra’s 30th season marks the beginning of the orchestra’s relationship with conductor Ronald Feldman, who in July was appointed Music Director from a pool of more than 100 candidates. Each of the concerts on the LSO’s four-concert series at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall features a winner of the renowned Young Concert Artists international auditions as soloist. Each concert also benefits a Boston-area health-related nonprofit organization.
Read on for information on the LSO’s 2012-2013 concert programs, ticketing information, soloists, community initiatives, Community Partners, and new Music Director Ronald Feldman. For more information, visit www.longwoodsymphony.org.
ROMEO AND JULIET
Saturday, October 13, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Louis Schwizgebel, piano
A concert to benefit the Sharewood Project
Robert Kyr: Fanfare for a New Dawn
W.A. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2
New Music Director Ronald Feldman opens the season with works by Robert Kyr, Mozart, and Prokofiev. Praised by The New York Times for his “dazzling fingerwork,” Swiss pianist Louis Schwizgebel joins the LSO to perform Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major.
BEETHOVEN VIOLIN CONCERTO
Saturday, December 1, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Benjamin Beilman, violin
A concert to benefit Triangle, Inc.
John Cage: 4’33’’
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto Grosso
Karel Husa: Two Sonnets from Michelangelo
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto, op. 61
The LSO performs John Cage’s pioneering 4’33” and then explores the music of Pulitzer Prize-winning American composers Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Karel Husa. Violinist Benjamin Beilman closes the program with Beethoven’s virtuosic Violin Concerto.
TRIBUTE TO CARL MARIA VON WEBER
Saturday, March 16, 2013, 8:00 p.m.
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Narek Arutyunian, clarinet
A concert to benefit Jack’s Magic Bean Fund
Michael Gandolfi: “The Willow Twist” from The Garden of Cosmic Speculation
Carl Maria von Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, op. 74
Weber: Turandot Overture and March
Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
The LSO presents a Grammy-nominated composition by Boston-based composer Michael Gandolfi before launching into two pieces by German composer Carl Maria von Weber. Featuring clarinetist Narek Arutyunian performing Weber’s exciting Clarinet Concerto No. 2, the program will conclude with Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on themes by Weber.
DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ
Saturday, May 11, 2013, 8:00 p.m.
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
George Li, piano
A concert to benefit the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
Lukas Foss: Salomon Rossi Suite
Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, op. 40
Igor Stravinsky: Scherzo à la russe
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
The LSO’s season finale features Boston native George Li performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a perennial audience favorite. Music Director Feldman brings his first season with the LSO to a close with works by Foss, Stravinsky, and Ravel.
TICKETING INFORMATION
Subscribers save! Subscriptions and ticket sales are available by visiting www.longwoodsymphony.org and by calling (617) 667-1527.
Four-concert subscription series at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Adult: $160, $105
Senior: $125, $90
Student: $90, $55
Single-concert tickets at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Adult: $45, $30
Senior: $35, $25
Student: $25, $15
Group discounts are available for groups of 10 or more single-concert tickets and subscriptions. Call the LSO at (617) 667-1527 for more information.
MUSIC DIRECTOR RONALD FELDMAN
Two-time winner of the League of American Orchestras’ ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, Ronald Feldman has achieved critical acclaim for his work as a conductor and cellist. He has appeared as a guest conductor with major orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Quebec Symphony, as well as many regional orchestras, including the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Springfield (MA), Albany, and Amarillo.
After successful appearances as a guest conductor for three consecutive seasons at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, Feldman assumed the post of Assistant Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He served as assistant to Boston Pops Principal Conductor and composer John Williams from 1989 to 1993.
Seiji Ozawa, Conductor Laureate of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, called Feldman “an outstanding conductor…with a deep musical mind, which is clearly conveyed through his performances.” John Williams regarded Feldman as “a brilliant conductor who displays the best leadership qualities…and an outstandingly high level of musicianship that imbues his conducting style with strength, taste, and imagination.”
Feldman joined the Boston Symphony as a cellist at the age of 19 and played with the orchestra until 2001. He has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras, performing a wide range of concerto repertoire from Dvořák to Ligeti. His many chamber music affiliations have included performances with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Collage New Music, the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players, and the Williams Chamber Players. Other performances have included collaborations with violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and pianists Emmanuel Ax and Garrick Ohlsson.
Feldman recorded an all-Mozart album with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest, which received excellent reviews in the American Record Guide and Fanfare Magazine. In his review, Steven Ritter of the American Record Guide asserted, “the Mozart Symphony No. 29 is given a dazzling reading, effulgent and scintillating, with articulation and note length all in sync.” Bernard Jacobson of Fanfare Magazine wrote, “Feldman secures a polished and alert account of the Mozart Symphony No. 29.” Feldman also conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and virtuoso trumpet player Arturo Sandoval in a recording of music by John Williams and Kevin Kaska.
In 2001, Feldman left the Boston Symphony Orchestra to pursue other musical interests. He has served as Music Director of the New England Philharmonic and the Worcester Orchestra. Feldman joined the Longwood Symphony Orchestra as Music Director in July 2012 and also serves as Music Director of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, a regional orchestra in residence at Williams College. In addition to serving on the faculties of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Berklee College of Music, Feldman is Artist in Residence, Lecturer in Music, and Chamber Music Coordinator as a faculty member of Williams College.
SOLOISTS FROM YOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS
For more than 50 years, Young Concert Artists (YCA) has held international auditions to identify promising young musicians on the brink of careers as international soloists. Audition winners become members of the YCA roster and receive career guidance and management services. Notable YCA alumni include pianist Emmanuel Ax, violinist Pinchas Zukerman, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and many others.