October 22, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Newly appointed concertmaster Amy Schwartz Moretti makes her Oregon Symphony solo debut with Saint-Saëns’ fiery virtuoso work, “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso” as Assistant Conductor Mei-Ann Chen leads the orchestra in “Dreams for the Daytime,” the opening Sundays at Two concert of the 2004-05 season on Sunday, Nov. 28. American Airlines is the airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Sundays at Two series. Media support is provided by Willamette Week.
Moretti was appointed Concertmaster of the Symphony in August, 2004, after a year-long national search to replace outgoing concertmaster Michael Foxman, who retired in 2003. For the five years prior to her appointment, Moretti was concertmaster of the Florida Orchestra. Praised by critics for her “luminous stage presence” and “the beauty and maturity of [her] tone and technical facility,” Moretti has garnered acclaim for both her solo and chamber performances across the country.
Saint-Saëns’ “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso” was written for, dedicated to and inspired by the matchless technique of Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate. Moretti says it is one of her favorite solo violin works of all time. “Saint-Saëns does a wonderful job of displaying the wide range of colors and techniques of the violin,” she explains. “There’s a little bit of something for everyone with this piece: great rhythmic energy, beautiful melodies, fast passage work, and flashy technical spots that make any violinist sweat!”
In addition to the “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso,” Chen and the orchestra present an afternoon of pieces that recall various dream and magical states, including Mendelssohn’s enchanting Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which he wrote in one month at the age of 17, as well as Wagner’s brooding and powerful Overture to “The Flying Dutchman.” Also on the program is the Symphony’s premiere of British composer Colin Matthews’ “Machines and Dreams,” an updated take on Haydn’s “Toy Symphony” that features a children’s orchestra playing various toys, including bells, whistles, computer games and noisemakers. Members of the Portland Youth Philharmonic will join the Symphony for this engaging and humorous work, which alternates three energetic “Machine” movements with two slow and ethereal “Dream” sections.
The performance is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 28 at 2 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. General admission tickets for the Sundays at Two series are $15 for students and seniors, $21 general public 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.
In 2002 Mei-Ann Chen was appointed Conductor and Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, America’s first established youth orchestra. Only the fourth person to hold this post in the Association’s 80-year-history, Ms. Chen was chosen from a pool of 112 candidates from around the world.
“I have rarely come across a more outstanding young conductor whose musicianship and sheer technical ability just radiates across to the audience and to the Orchestra…an example of real connection between Conductor and Orchestra where the players not just responded but went with her challenges in the most musical and exhilarating manner. This was really quite breathtaking,” said Oregon Symphony President Tony Woodcock, a member of the PYP’s search committee.
Most recently Ms. Chen was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony. As Assistant Conductor, Ms. Chen’s primary responsibilities with the Symphony will be to conduct all Youth and Kids Concerts and to serve as the primary “cover” conductor for Classical concerts (learning the repertoire and stepping in should a scheduled conductor cancel).
As Conductor and Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, Ms. Chen is responsible for the artistic and educational direction of the Association to include: planning, preparing and conducting season concerts, children’s concerts, run-out and preview performances, and national and international tours; supervising the artistic staff; and auditioning applicants.
In her first season with PYP, Ms. Chen was enthusiastically received by audiences and critics for daring program choices that included John Corigliano’s “Promenade Overture,” Respighi’s “Pines of Rome” and Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka.” The Oregonian called her “among the most talented newcomers to Portland’s music scene in several years.”
Other highlights early in her career include: a guest appearance with the Eugene Symphony in February 2003; an invitation to the 2003 National Conductor Preview; a performance with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC 2002; fellowship Academy Conductor at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen; regional finalist in the Inaugural Maazel-Vilar Competition in Tokyo, Japan; and a nomination from Rolex as a Protégé candidate for the new Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Prior to her appointment with PYP, Ms. Chen was a doctorate candidate in orchestral conducting at the University of Michigan where she studied with Kenneth Kiesler and Martin Katz and served as Music Director of the Campus Symphony and Campus Philharmonia and conducted productions of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” and Verdi’s “Falstaff.” In addition, she was the Conductor and Music Director for the newly established Arbor Opera Theater in its debut production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and made several appearances with the Toledo Symphony (Ohio) in their Education/Casual series.
Born in Taiwan, Ms. Chen was invited to study violin on a scholarship at the New England Conservatory. She went on to become the first person in NEC history to receive a double master’s degree simultaneously in conducting and violin performance and to win the two most prestigious awards - Gunther Schuller Medal for extraordinary contribution to musical life in the community and George Chadwick Medal for most outstanding undergraduate.
Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti joined the Oregon Symphony as its new Concertmaster in August 2004. Her first appearance with the orchestra was December 2003 when she served as guest concertmaster and soloist performing Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” with Robert King conducting. She comes to Portland from the Tampa Bay area where, at the age of 23, she was appointed concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra, a position she held for five years. She also appears as guest concertmaster for the New York Pops in Carnegie Hall.
In addition to her orchestral career, Schwartz Moretti is an active soloist appearing annually since 2000 on the Masterworks Series of The Florida Orchestra. She has performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Joseph Silverstein conducting, and Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto in D minor with Jahja Ling at the podium. The American Record Guide hailed her as the “brilliant soloist” during her 2002-2003 performances of the Barber Violin Concerto with Stefan Sanderling conducting. The Tampa Tribune said she “kept listeners entranced,” and praised her performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto in the 2003-2004 season, also under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, as “majestic” and “eloquent.” The St. Petersburg Times proclaimed, “Moretti performed with a beguiling combination of light, transparency and emotional weight.” Mr. Sanderling will conduct in March 2005 when she returns to Florida to perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3.
A dedicated chamber musician, Schwartz Moretti has performed in both Carnegie Hall and Weill Recital Hall, at the Aspen, Margess International of Switzerland, and Sarasota music festivals, and venues as diverse as the Dali Museum, Washington & Lee University and First Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg. She has collaborated in a variety of small ensembles with colleagues from the Florida Orchestra in addition to appearing with the Moretti-Polera-Kluksdahl Piano Trio. As first violinist of the Cambiata String Quartet, she was a Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, participated in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall, was awarded the Florence Allen Award at the 1995 Carmel Chamber Music Competition, and was First Prize Winner of the 1995 Darius Milhaud Performance Prize Auditions. Committed to chamber music and education, she is Co-founder and Artistic Director of the not-for-profit Bay Area Music Summer Chamber Music Workshop, an intensive two-week experience for young musicians held at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Schwartz Moretti began violin study at the age of four and first soloed with a professional orchestra (the Winston-Salem Symphony) when she was twelve. She went on to win numerous concerto competitions performing with the North Carolina Symphony, the Raleigh Symphony, the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, and the Tar River Orchestra in her home state and the Richmond Symphony in Virginia. In 1998 she was invited to Carnegie Hall for a solo debut performance with the New York Youth Symphony, Mischa Santora conducting. In addition to concerto awards, she has won prizes and honors in national and international solo competitions. She appeared in recital at the San Miguel de Allende International Music Festival in Mexico as the featured winner of the 1997 Irving M. Klein International String Competition. As First Place Violin Winner of the 1994 ASTA National Solo Competition, she was invited to perform for a joint meeting of the MENC and ASTA national convention. She was also a prizewinner at the Eighteenth Annual D’Angelo Young Artist Competition and the Forty-first Annual Washington International Competition.
As a student of Donald Weilerstein, Schwartz Moretti earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was valedictorian. She graduated with distinction from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department where on Saturdays she studied a varied curriculum of music theory, history and chamber music as a high school student. Summers, she attended the Meadowmount School of Music and Margess International Music Festival of Switzerland on scholarship. She has studied chamber music with Isaac Stern, Earl Carlyss, Peter Salaff and members of the Orion, Emerson, Cleveland, Juilliard, Tokyo, Guarneri, American and Cavani string quartets. Other distinguished teachers who influenced her development are Zaven Melikian of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Margaret Pardee of The Juilliard School, and Joanne Bath of East Carolina University.
Schwartz Moretti performs on a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin made in Paris, France in 1874. She is married to jazz drummer and percussionist Steve Moretti. They reside in Portland with their dog Yoshi and two cats, Miles and Cole.
