Contact:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
503-416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org
February 8, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OREGONSYMPHONY UNVEILS ITS 2009/10 SEASON:
SOMETHING FOR EVERY LISTENER
Sunday Afternoon Concerts, Big-Name Soloists and a Wide Range
of Orchestra Premieres Share the Classical Series Spotlight
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Music Director Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony today announced the orchestra’s 2009/10 concert season. The Classical season is characterized by an equal number of great core orchestral masterworks audiences love and Oregon Symphony premieres – some old works, some brand new – that have never before been performed in the orchestra’s history.
Other highlights include guest appearances by some of the top names in classical music today, including pianists Yefim Bronfman and Jon Kimura Parker, as well as violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Midori and Itzhak Perlman (back for a solo recital this season). A new Sunday matinee Classical series also joins the concert lineup for 2009/10. And, toward the end of the season, a three-night Beethoven Festival headlined by Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen will feature all five of the Beethoven piano concertos; the Triple Concerto for piano, violin and cello; and all three Leonore Overtures.
The 2009/10 concert season – the orchestra’s 114th – kicks off Saturday, Sept. 12, with a one-night-only special concert in which the orchestra shares its Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall stage with the acrobats of Cirque de la Symphonie. Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda, beginning his fifth season with the orchestra, will be on the podium for that performance.
Carlos Kalmar, in his seventh season as music director, takes the Schnitz stage for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 26, to lead a blockbuster special performance featuring guest appearances by Edgar Meyer (on double bass), Béla Fleck (banjo), Chris Thile (mandolin), and Zakir Hussain (tabla). That program includes a premiere performance of the Chris Thile Mandolin Concerto, a new work co-commissioned by the Oregon Symphony and the Colorado Symphony, as well as the Fleck/Meyer/Hussain Triple Concerto. The four soloists will stay on for a jam session following their concert with the orchestra.
Classical subscription concerts get under way Oct. 3-5, in a program that features Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker performing the Brahms First Piano Concerto, and continue through May 22-24, when Kalmar ends the season in his traditional way, with a performance of one of the monumental symphonies of Gustav Mahler. This year it is his spectacular Symphony No. 1, “the Titan.”
All together, Kalmar will be on the podium for 15 concerts in the new season: 11 of the 16 Classical subscription concerts, the three performances of the Beethoven Festival and the September gala concert with Meyer, Fleck and friends. Vajda will conduct seven concerts, including two Classical subscription concerts and all three concerts on the kids series. Guest conductors will lead three of the Classical subscription concerts.
Among this season’s innovations is a new Classical “C” series added to the traditional “A” and “B” subscription series. Concerts in the new series will be performed either Saturday evenings or Sunday afternoons. The new series enables the orchestra to offer a much wider range of subscription choices to ticket-buyers than ever before. Subscription packages vary from as few as three to as many as 19 performances.
Pops specialist Jeff Tyzik is back for his second season as principal pops conductor to lead a four-concert series. The season also includes a three-concert kids series called “Pink Lemonade” and a wide range of special concerts.
New series subscriptions and renewals are on sale now. Special concerts go on sale to single-ticket buyers May 1. Tickets for subscription concerts go on sale to single-ticket buyers Aug. 17.
Complete information on all of the Oregon Symphony’s 2009/10 performances can be found in its season brochure, Come See What We’re Playing, and on the web site OrSymphony.org.# # #
CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org