'ELECTRIFYING' PIANIST HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD TO MAKE PORTLAND DEBUT
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Portland, Ore. … Hélène Grimaud, one of the most in-demand pianists today, will make her Portland debut performing Rachmaninoff's haunting Piano Concerto No. 2 in an Oregon Symphony Classical Applause concert conducted by Music Director Candidate Roberto Minczuk Feb. 23 through 25 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. An additional concert is scheduled for Feb. 26 at Salem's Smith Auditorium.

According to The New York Times, Grimaud "has the power to play with an electrifying aggressiveness, as well as a contrastingly beautiful touch in more lyrical music and the kind of flexibility that allows her to convey the illusion of improvisatory freshness." She will perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, included in her first concerto disk, of which The Times wrote, "In the Rachmaninoff, Ms. Grimaud sounds bold, assured and properly rhapsodic, never underplaying the brooding Romanticism but investing it with welcome backbone." According to KBPS morning show host Shaun Yu, "This French-born pianist relishes breaking down stereotypes regarding the kind of music she should play and the way she should play it. Think Rachmaninoff should only be played by the 'boys'? Think again."

Minczuk also will conduct Beethoven's passionate "Leonore" Overture No. 3 and Rimsky-Korsakov's most well-known composition, "Scheherazade," based on the famous story of "1001 Arabian Nights." Brazilian conductor Minczuk is currently Co-Artistic Director of the São Paulo State Symphony, an orchestra he joined as Principal Hornist at the age of 16. Critics in New York praised his 1999 conducting appearances with the New York Philharmonic: "What was astonishing was the level of nuance and subtle dynamic shading," and "…there was dynamism to burn." Minczuk is one of six music director candidates to appearing this season. Audience members will have an opportunity to share their opinions of the music director candidates by completing surveys inserted in program books or by visiting the Symphony's Website at www.orsymphony.org.

In addition to pre-concert talks one hour before the concert, Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra.

These activities include:
Saturday: The conductor of each series will discuss the program from the podium in "Symphony Interactive." Media support for "Symphony Interactive" is provided by KINKfm102.

Sunday: Audience members will be invited to stay for a 15-20 minute panel discussion with musicians and/or the conductor. Media support for "Sunday Night Post-Concert Discussion" is provided by KBPS.

Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23 and 24, at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. at Salem's Smith Auditorium. Tickets range in price from $15 to $70 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.

Hélène Grimaud

The French pianist Hélène Grimaud is a regular visitor to the concert stages of Europe, North America and the Far East. Since her 1988 debut with Orchestre de Paris, at the invitation of Daniel Barenboim, she has gone on to appear with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, Tokyo's NHK Symphony and Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra. Additional North American engagements have taken her to the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minnesota, St. Paul, Seattle and Toronto. The list of conductors with whom she has worked includes Claudio Abbado, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Lawrence Foster, Christopher Hogwood, Eliahu Inbal, Neeme Järvi, Marek Janowski, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Kurt Masur, Kurt Sanderling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Gerard Schwarz, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson-Thomas and David Zinman.

Ms. Grimaud's schedule for 2000-01 included engagements with the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver, recitals in New York, Mexico City and Seattle, as well as her first performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her international engagements included appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre de Suisse Romande, the Oslo Philharmonic, as well as performances in Germany as part of the San Francisco Symphony's European tour. Her summer season featured appearances at Caramoor, the Mann Center and the Hollywood Bowl. Highlights of her 2001-02 calendar in North America include her Carnegie Hall debut in a performance of the Schumann concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, engagements with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Oregon, Pittsburgh and Rochester, among others. Her international engagements include a tour with the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach (including an appearance at the BBC Proms), performances with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg including concerts in Spain. She will also give recitals in Paris and Zurich.

Hélène Grimaud now records exclusively for the Teldec label. Her earlier releases on Erato include the Schumann Piano Concerto and Richard Strauss's "Burleske" for Piano and Orchestra with the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin led by David Zinman; a highly acclaimed disc featuring Brahms' late piano works, Opp. 116 - 119; the Gershwin and Ravel Piano Concertos with Mr. Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony; and, most recently, the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with Kurt Sanderling and the Staatskapelle Berlin. Her first release on the Teldec label is a live recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 from her debut appearances with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur, along with two Beethoven Sonatas. Her second and latest release is of the Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, along with three solo Rachmaninoff works. Ms. Grimaud previously had several award-winning releases on Denon, featuring works of Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Ravel and Brahms.

Born in Aix-en-Provence, Hélène Grimaud began music studies at the Conservatoire there and later in Marseilles with Pierre Barbizet. At age 13 she was accepted by a unanimous vote into the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. In 1985 she was awarded first prize in Jacques Rouvier's class and was invited to participate in master classes by Gyorgy Sander, Leon Fleisher and Jorge Bolet, who said of her, "It has been a long time, a very long time, since I have met a natural talent of such quality and musical sensibility."

Roberto Minczuk

Currently Co-Artistic Director of the prestigious São Paulo State Symphony, Roberto Minczuk has catapulted onto the American conducting scene. After leading John Harbison's "Mirabai Songs" on the New York Philharmonic Ensemble Series in Merkin Hall, Mr. Minczuk was invited to conduct the New York Philharmonic's summer concerts in 1998; these concerts were so successful that he was re-engaged for 1999. Press acclaim from all the major New York newspapers included such comments as, "what was astonishing was the level of nuance and subtle dynamic shading," and "...there was dynamism to burn."

Mr. Minczuk's recent and upcoming appearances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Florida Philharmonic and Pacific Symphony; he also appeared twice as guest conductor of the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center.

Roberto Minczuk began his career as a prodigy of the French horn; already at the age of 16, he was Principal Hornist of the São Paulo Symphony. While a student at The Juilliard School, he made solo appearances with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and with the New York Philharmonic as part of the orchestra's Young People's Concerts. After his graduation from Juilliard in 1987, Mr. Minczuk became a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Returning to Brazil in 1989, he pursued conducting studies with Eleazar de Carvalho and John Neschling.

Roberto Minczuk has won many awards and prizes: in 2000, at the recommendation of Kurt Masur, he received the Martin E. Segal Award as one of Lincoln Center's most promising young artists; other awards include the 1997 Revelation of the Year Award given to the most outstanding young artist by the Performing Arts Critics Association in São Paulo, and the 1991 Moinho Santista Youth Prize (the most important prize in Brazil) awarded in various disciplines for extraordinary achievement in a chosen field.