December 16, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda, who made his first guest appearance with the Oregon Symphony on a Sundays at Two concert during the 2003-04 season, returns to that series in a concert that features the first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and the Symphony premiere of Kodály’s “Peacock Variations” on Jan. 15 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. American Airlines is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Sundays at Two series.
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, one of the most popular of that genre, displays Beethoven’s lyricism. Rather than the showy virtuosity associated with other concertos, this challenging work demands flawless intonation and a pure, rich sound. Vajda calls this concerto “the perfect example of ‘symphony for solo instrument and orchestra.’” Takezawa, whom The Newark, New Jersey Star-Ledger describes as “an operatic diva of the violin,” will perform the first movement, which features many extended solo passages.
Vajda, who was born in Hungary, will also conduct the Symphony’s premiere of his countryman Zoltán Kodály’s “Peacock Variations.” This large orchestral work is based on a Hungarian folk song about a peacock and features dazzling orchestrations. Using the instruments of a standard orchestra with added percussion, Kodály transforms the primitive song of the peacock into a metaphor for the soul of the Hungarian people. Vajda explains, “Kodály is serving a tasty Hungarian folksong by making a delicious, romantic orchestral piece in variation form.”
Another Symphony premiere, “Machaut à ma maniere” (Machaut in my own way), by British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle, is based on several vocal compositions by the medieval composer Guillaume de Machaut. Vajda explains, “Machaut’s original vocal music is turned into a groovy dance movement in Birtwistle’s late-20th-century language. Machaut’s melodic lines and structure are retained, but Birtwistle ‘re-codes’ it in symphonic style.”
The performance is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $16 to $22 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Customer Service Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 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.
Emotional power, musical sensitivity, flawless technique, and a tone remarkable for its singular beauty are the qualities that have established Kyoko Takezawa as one of today’s foremost violinists. Takezawa’s interpretive insight and virtuosity have made her a sought-after soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras.
Takezawa has performed as soloist with prominent ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Cleveland, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Houston, Toronto, Dallas, Montreal, Detroit and Cincinnati. Abroad, she has appeared with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London Symphony, Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Dresden Staatskapelle, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, NHK Symphony and the New Japan Philharmonic. She has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit and Andrew Davis. She has performed at major venues around the world, notably Carnegie Hall in New York; the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; London’s BBC Proms and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
Highlights of Takezawa’s 2004-2005 season include performances in North America with the Charlotte, Toronto and Seattle Symphonies, with the Singapore and Nagoya Symphonies in Asia, and with France’s Orchestre National de Lille. During 2003-2004, Takezawa appeared with the Halle Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Spokane Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic. She toured Japan as soloist with the Berlin Radio Orchestra and was heard with the Osaka Philharmonic, the Kyushu Symphony and other Japanese ensembles.
In recent seasons, Takezawa has also appeared with the Montreal Symphony under Roberto Abbado, the San Francisco Symphony under David Zinman, the New World Symphony, the BBC Wales at the Proms, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Monte Carlo Orchestra and the Malaysia Philharmonic. She performed in recital at Wigmore Hall in London, in Germany and Italy, throughout Japan, toured the United States with the Moscow Philharmonic, performed a series of concerts with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (both on tour and at Alice Tully Hall), toured the Far East with the NHK Symphony under Charles Dutoit and appeared in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra of Japan. She also performed as guest soloist with the Huntsville Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Weimar Staatkapelle, Berlin Radio Symphony, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Wales, Orchestra of Monte Carlo and the China Philharmonic. A highly accomplished chamber player, Takezawa participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival. A former winner of the Indianapolis Violin Competition, Takezawa was invited to serve as a juror at the competition.
A prolific recording artist, Takezawa can be heard on BMG’s RCA Victor Red Seal label. Her most recent recording is a performance of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14, by Samuel Barber with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Her other recordings include the Elgar Violin Concerto with Sir Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Violin Concerto No. 2 by Bartók with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony. Takezawa’s CD of French violin sonatas was selected as one of the best recordings of 1993 by Stereo Review.
Takezawa’s chamber music performances have drawn high praise, and as co-director of the Suntory Festival Soloists of Suntory Hall in Tokyo, she has collaborated with the late Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Joseph Suk and many other distinguished artists. In recent seasons, she has performed at the Aspen Festival and at the first Taipei International Chamber Music Festival with Cho-Liang Lin.
Takezawa began violin studies at the age of three and at age seven toured the United States, Canada and Switzerland as a member of the Suzuki Method Association. In 1982 she placed first in the 51st Annual Japan Music Competition. At 17 she entered the Aspen Music School to study with Dorothy DeLay, with whom Takezawa continued to study at The Juilliard School until she graduated in 1989. In 1986 she was awarded the Gold Medal at the Second Quadrennial International Violin Competition in Indianapolis and, most recently, she received the prestigious Idemitsu Award for outstanding musicianship. Takezawa performs on the Antonio Stradivarius “Camposelice” (1710), generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation.
Gregory Vajda has been appointed to serve as the Oregon Symphony’s second Resident Conductor in its 109-year history beginning in summer 2005. Vajda conducted a Sundays at Two concert during the 2003-2004 season to great acclaim from both the orchestra and the audience. During the 2005-2006 season, he will conduct a Classical and a Pops concert, in addition to serving as the primary conductor for Youth Concertsand Kids Concerts.
Gregory Vajda has fast become one of the most brilliant conductors on the international scene. He was called a “young titan” by a Montreal Symphony Orchestra member during the 2003-2004 season run of Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Schönberg’s “Erwartung” with L’Opera de Montreal. Recognized for his strength and intensity in conducting 19th century, 20th century and contemporary repertoire, Vajda has just concluded his third and final season as assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Prior to his appointment with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, he served as music director to the New Theater Budapest, and artistic director of the Forras (Source) Chamber Music Workshop, founder and artistic advisor of the Valley of the Arts Summer Festival in Hungary, permanent guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera (1998-2003), artistic leader of the Brass in Five Ensemble, principal conductor of the Ernö Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, and was a member of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. When appointed assistant conductor in Milwaukee, he resigned all permanent European posts to focus completely on his full time job as well as guest engagements.
Highlights of the 2004-2005 season for Vajda included a third appearance at the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris and appearances with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Round Top Festival in Texas, and the Grant Park Festival in Chicago. Vajda also led the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in a subscription concert series, and was commissioned to compose and conduct a piece for the Making New Waves Festival in Budapest.
In the 2003-2004 season, Vajda’s schedule included the Oregon Symphony, Naumburg Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. All this in addition to the New Year’s Gala Performance and a classical subscription series with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Vajda also conducted at the Woodstock Mozart Festival and Mostly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center to great critical acclaim.
As assistant conductor with the Milwaukee Symphony, he led several regional tours, conducted the Milwaukee Symphony in a classical subscription concert as well as performances with Canadian Brass, Maureen McGovern, Peter, Paul and Mary and the King Singers. In past seasons, Vajda appeared with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Ensemble Intercontemporain at Cité de la Musique, led performances at the Vienna Klangforum of Péter Eötvös’s “As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams” and “Three Sisters”(as part of theVienna Festwochen), gave the premiere of his chamber opera “The Giantbaby” at the New Theatre in Budapest, and the premiere of Hungarian composer György Ránki’s opera “King Pomade’s New Clothes” at the Hungarian State Opera. He has also conducted at the festivals of Avignon and Strassbourg.
In addition to conducting, Vajda is also a clarinetist and composer. Recently, he conducted his own composition for the silent film “The Crowd” at the Auditorium of the Louvre with American pianist Jay Gottlieb. He has also recorded his own orchestral piece entitled “Duevoe” with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was honored with the Zoltán Kodály State Scholarship for composers for the year 2000, and the Annie Fischer State Scholarship for music performers in the year 1999.
Born in 1973 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of renowned soprano Veronika Kincses, Gregory Vajda studied clarinet and composition at Béla Bartók secondary school. He then studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music under Professor Ervin Lukács. He recently completed a half-year study session with the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris with Jonathan Nott. He has also been a conducting pupil of the well-known twentieth century composer and conductor, Péter Eötvös.
