Järvi conducts Curtis Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie (April 28)
Paavo Järvi Conducts
Curtis Symphony Orchestra in All-Russian Program at Carnegie Hall on April 28
Carter Brey, Principal
Cellist of New York Philharmonic, Performs Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante
Paavo
Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Curtis alumnus,
conducts the Curtis Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, April 28 at 8pm in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie
Hall. The all-Russian program features
Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1947) and two works by Prokofiev: Suite No. 1 from Romeo and Juliet and Sinfonia concertante with cello
soloist Carter Brey.
The Curtis
Symphony Orchestra
has been called “an orchestra that any city would be lucky to have as its
professional ensemble” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and has been praised for its
“otherworldly ensemble and professional level of sophistication” (New York
Times). Recent visiting conductors include Charles
Dutoit, Alan Gilbert, Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Miguel
Harth-Bedoya. This real-world
training has enabled Curtis alumni to assume prominent positions in major
orchestras across the United States, Canada, and abroad. Sixteen percent of the principal chairs
in America’s top 25 orchestras are held by Curtis-trained musicians.
The
Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians for careers as
performing artists on the highest professional level. One of the world’s leading music schools, Curtis provides
full-tuition scholarships to all of its 162 students, ensuring that admissions
are based solely on artistic promise.
A Curtis education is uniquely tailored to the individual student, with
personalized attention from a celebrated faculty and unusually frequent
performance opportunities. This
distinctive “learn by doing” approach to musical training has produced an
impressive number of notable artists, from such legends as Leonard Bernstein
and Samuel Barber to current stars Juan Diego Flórez, Alan Gilbert, Hilary
Hahn, Leila Josefowicz,Jennifer Higdon, and Lang Lang.
Paavo
Järvi, one of the
most sought-after conductors of his generation, became music director of the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2001 and recently extended his contract
through the 2011-12 season. In
2004, Mr. Järvi became artistic director of the Deutsche
Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras, and
he also serves as music
director of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. He will become the seventh music
director of the Orchestre de Paris beginning in the 2010-11 season.
Mr. Järvi’s
demand as a guest conductor has led to engagements with the world’s major
orchestras including the Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Vienna Philharmonics. In North America, he regularly conducts
the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony. He previously held the post of
principal guest conductor with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Born in
Estonia, he studied percussion and conducting at the Tallinn Music High
School. His studies continued in
the United States at the Curtis Institute under Otto-Werner Mueller and Max
Rudolf, former music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, as well as
at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute with Leonard Bernstein.
Principal
cellist of the New York Philharmonic, Carter Brey joined the faculty of the Curtis
Institute of Music in 2008. “I’m
very excited about the opportunity to kick off my relationship with the school
through this pair of concerts” said Mr. Brey. “It will be a nice way for the students to get to know me a
little better and vice versa.” The
100 young musicians between the ages of 14 and 25 who make up the Curtis
Symphony Orchestra will perform Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante with Mr.
Brey. “I think it’s one of
Prokofiev’s best large-scale works,” he said. “The melodic invention is fantastic. Because he wrote it in concert for
Mstislav Rostropovich, it’s very idiomatic for the instrument. It’s a challenge, but very rewarding.”
Carter Brey
rose to international attention in 1981 as a prizewinner in the Rostropovich
International Cello Competition.
He was appointed principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic in 1996
and has performed numerous times as a soloist with the orchestra under the
batons of Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, and Alan Gilbert. The first musician to win the Arts
Council of America’s Performing Arts Prize, Mr. Brey has also won the Gregor
Piatigorsky Memorial Prize, Avery Fisher Career Grant, and Young Concert
Artists’ Michaels Award.
As a
chamber musician, Mr. Brey has made regular appearances with the Tokyo and
Emerson String Quartets, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Spoleto
Festival in the United States and Italy, and the Santa Fe and La Jolla chamber
music festivals, among others. His
discography includes Chopin’s complete works for cello and piano with Garrick
Ohlsson (Arabesque), and The Latin American Album (Helicon Records), featuring
compositions from South America and Mexico with Christopher O’Riley. Mr. Brey studied with Laurence Lesser
and Stephen Kates at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and with Aldo Parisot at
Yale University.
# # #
Curtis
Symphony Orchestra
Jack
Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Tuesday,
April 28 at 8pm
Perelman
Stage, Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, 57th Street and 7th
Avenue, New York
Paavo
Järvi, conductor (’88)
STRAVINSKY:
Petrushka (1947)
PROKOFIEV:
Sinfonia concertante (Carter Brey, cello)
PROKOFIEV:
Suite No. 1 from Romeo and Juliet
Tickets are
$16, $30, and $50 and are available at the Carnegie Ticket Office at (212)
247-7800 or www.carnegiehall.org. Pre-concert gala tickets are available
through the Curtis Development Office at (215) 893-5279 or [email protected].