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Entertainment

Monterey Symphony’s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series, continues Nov. 18-19 With Award-Winning South Korean Pianist David Jae-Weon Huh

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Award-winning South Korea-born pianist David Jae-Weon Huh will be featured in the second program of the Monterey Symphony’s six-concert series on Nov. 18 and 19, at the Sunset Center in Carmel.

Monterey, CA, October 24, 2017 – Award-winning South Korea-born pianist David Jae-Weon Huh will be featured in the second program of the Monterey Symphony’s six-concert series on Nov. 18 and 19, at the Sunset Center in Carmel.

This concert will also feature a side-by-side performance with members of the Honors Orchestra of Youth Music Monterey County (YMMC).

The season, titled “Concert Grand,” under the direction of Maestro Max Bragado-Darman, opened Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20.

Huh, silver medalist at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will lend his talents to Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26, in this powerful program, which also will include the Symphony’s interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 (“Pastoral.)

Recognized for his sense of poetry and technical brilliance, Huh has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and has appeared in numerous festivals, including recitals at Animato den Paris, San Francisco Music Festival, and Leipzig Euro Music Festival, among many others.

This will be Huh’s first appearance with the Monterey Symphony.

Guest pianists in Season 72 will also include Josu de Solaun, Juan Perez Floristan, Phillipe Bianconi, and Michael Davidman, who was selected by guest conductor Conner Gray Covington, who will preside over the March 17-18 program.

The symphony will perform pieces by Dvorak, Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, de Falla and Tchaikovsky.

All programs will be performed at the Sunset Center (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Mission streets) in Carmel at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Special youth concerts, also at the Sunset Center, have been scheduled March 19 and April 23, with performances at 9:30 and 11 a.m. on each date.

The Monterey Symphony‘s chamber players will present a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at All Saints Church (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Monte Verde streets in Carmel).

For ticket information, call 831-646-8511, visit the website at www.montereysymphony.org, or send an email to info@montereysymphony.org.

Here’s an in-depth look at the rest of the upcoming season:

 

Program 3: Feb. 17-18

Josu de Solaun, first-prize winner at the 2014 Enescu Piano Competition, will join the Symphony to perform Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 103 in a concert that also will include Symphony renditions of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61.

De Solaun’s teachers, mentors, and musical influences have Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Ricardo Roca, Ana Guijarro, Maria Teresa Naranjo, Albert and Miyoko Lotto, Joaquin Achucarro, Matti Raekallio, Edna Golandsky, and Jerome Lowenthal.

Symphony audiences will remember de Solaun for his previous solo recital, featuring Mussogorky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Program 4: March 17-18 (with youth concert on March 19)

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with the Monterey Symphony and wall-to-wall Mozart, a program that will include the overture from his beloved opera, Don Giovanni.

This concert will be performed under the baton of guest conductor Connor Gray Covington (recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Utah Symphony) and will include Mozart’s Symphony No. 1, KV 16, and Symphony No. 41, KV 551 (“Jupiter”).

Covington is currently completing his tenure as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he is being mentored by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. He recently made his debut with the Curtis Symphony at Carnegie Hall, sharing the podium with Ludovic Morlot.

Special guest pianist Michael Davidman, selected by Covington, will also be part of this spectacular program.

New York City-born Davidman started piano lessons at age 5, studying with Efrem Briskin at Manhattan School of Music, studied conducting with Jonathan Strasser and David Gilbert and is currently studying piano with Robert McDonald at Curtis Institute of Music since fall 2015.

An avid opera enthusiast, exceptional sight reader, chamber player, and accompanist, he has won numerous first-place awards in various competitions and recently completed the four-year scholarship program with The Chopin Foundation of the United States.

Davidman has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Sandler Center, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, DiMenna Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Steinway Hall, Bechstein Hall, as well as recitals in Italy, Spain, and Russia.

Program 5: April 21-22 (with youth concert on April 23)

Guest pianist Juan Perez Floristan, winner at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will showcase his talents with a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 83, in a program that also will include the Symphony’s rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s

Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 (“Italian”) — a piece Mendelssohn, himself, declared to be the “jolliest” he ever composed. Regarded as a beacon among new generations of Spanish and European musicians, Perez has performed with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony, Radio Television Espanola, Seville Royal Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Malaga and Cordoba Symphonies,  and the Andres Segovia and Spanish National Youth Orchestras.

Program 6: May 19-20

The incomparable Phillipe Bianconi will be at the piano for the Monterey Symphony’s final program of the season, performing Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Liszt perfected the art of thematic transformation and took it to an extreme level with this impassioned concerto.

French pianist Bianconi has been described as an artist whose playing is “always close to the soul of the music, filling the space with poetry and life” (Washington Post), “an extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste which lent the music a freshness, immediacy and conviction one all too seldom encounters” (The London Times). After winning the Silver Medal in the Seventh Van Cliburn International Competition, Bianconi made an acclaimed recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1987 and, since then, has enthralled audiences and critics throughout the world.

Also featured will be Manuel de Falla’s lovely Noches en los Jardines de Espana, his most impressionist-style work, which details three gardens in a setting for piano and orchestra.

Chamber Program: Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church)

The Monterey Symphony is pleased to offer a special holiday chamber music treat, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok, with selections that include Piazzolla, Beethoven, Mozart, and the Hampton String Quartet’s “What if Mozart wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!” Come have fun and enjoy holiday music in a classical style with the Monterey Symphony chamber players.

Media Comp Tickets and Media Interviews Available Contact Marci Bracco Cain at Marci@ChatterboxPublicRelations.com

About the Monterey Symphony

The mission of the Monterey Symphony is to engage, educate and excite our community through the performance and continual discovery of symphonic music.

The Monterey Symphony, under the artistic leadership of Music Director & Conductor Max Bragado-Darman, is the only fully professional, full-season orchestra serving the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur, and San Benito County. It provides double performances of a six-concert subscription series at Carmel’s Sunset Theater, as well as youth education programs that include in-class visits and culminate in full-orchestra concerts for school children.

The Monterey Symphony is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, supported in part through the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Monterey Symphony, and through grants from The Arts Council of Monterey County, The Berkshire Foundation, The Buffet Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Community Foundation for Monterey County, Frisone Family Foundation, The Harden Foundation, The Todd Lueders Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Monterey County Weekly Community Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, Music Performance Trust Fund, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Samson Foundation, Warren and Katharine Schlinger Foundation, Alexander F. Victor Foundation,  and any other generous foundations and individual donors.

For additional information, please call 831-646-8511 or visit the website: www.montereysymphony.org.

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereysymphony.org

Entertainment

Monterey Symphony’s Fabulous Season 72, a Six-concert series that Begins Oct. 14-15, and Runs through May 19-20

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Tickets Go On Sale August 15th

Salinas, CA, July 21, 2017 – An exceptional lineup of celebrated pianists will perform iconic works by Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Mozart, de Falla and Liszt during the Monterey Symphony’s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20. Tickets go on sale August 15th.

The season, entitled “Concert Grand,” is under the direction of Maestro Max Bragado-Darman, whose guest pianists will Orion Weiss, David Jae-Weon Huh, Josu de Solaun, Juan Perez Floristan, Phillipe Bianconi, and one more to be selected by guest conductor Conner Gray Covington, who will preside over the March 17-18 program.

The symphony also will be performing pieces by Dvorak, Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, de Falla and Tchaikovsky.

All programs will be performed at the Sunset Center (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Mission streets) in Carmel at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Special youth concerts, also at the Sunset Center, have been scheduled Oct. 16, March 19 and April 23, with performances at 9:30 and 11 a.m. on each date.

The Monterey Symphony‘s chamber players will present a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at All Saints Church (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Monte Verde streets in Carmel).

For ticket information, call 831-646-8511, visit the website at www.montereysymphony.org, or send an email to info@montereysymphony.org.

Here’s an in-depth look at the upcoming season:

Program 1: Oct. 14 and 15 (with youth concert on Oct. 16)

Pianist Orion Weiss, a favorite of Monterey Symphony fans, will lend his virtuosic skills to Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (originally composed for the historically acclaimed Nikolai Rubinstein) in the season opener, during which the orchestra will perform Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” Op. 95.

Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim.

Program 2: Nov. 18-19

South Korean-born David Jae-Weon Huh, silver medalist at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will lend his talents to Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26, in this powerful program, which also will include the Symphony’s interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 (“Pastoral.)

Recognized for his sense of poetry and technical brilliance, Huh has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and has appeared in numerous festivals, including recitals at Animato den Paris, San Francisco Music Festival, and Leipzig Euro Music Festival, among many others.

This will be his first appearance with the Monterey Symphony.

Program 3: Feb. 17-18

Josu de Solaun, first-prize winner at the 2014 Enescu Piano Competition, will join the Symphony to perform Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 103 in a concert that also will include Symphony renditions of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61.

de Solaun’s teachers, mentors, and musical influences have Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Ricardo Roca, Ana Guijarro, Maria Teresa Naranjo, Albert and Miyoko Lotto, Joaquin Achucarro, Matti Raekallio, Edna Golandsky, and Jerome Lowenthal.

Symphony audiences will remember de Solaun for his previous solo recital, featuring Mussogorky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Program 4: March 17-18 (with youth concert on March 19)

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with the Monterey Symphony and wall-to-wall Mozart, a program that will include the overture from his beloved opera, Don Giovanni.

This concert will be performed under the baton of guest conductor Connor Gray Covington (recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Utah Symphony) and will include Mozart’s Symphony No. 1, KV 16, and Symphony No. 41, KV 551 (“Jupiter”).

Covington is currently completing his tenure as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he is being mentored by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. He recently made his debut with the Curtis Symphony at Carnegie Hall, sharing the podium with Ludovic Morlot.

A special guest pianist, to be selected by Covington, also will be part of this spectacular program.

Program 5: April 21-22 (with youth concert on April 23)

Guest pianist Juan Perez Floristan, winner at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will showcase his talents with a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 83, in a program that also will include the Symphony’s rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 (“Italian”) — a piece Mendelssohn, himself, declared to be the “jolliest” he ever composed.

Regarded as a beacon among new generations of Spanish and European musicians, Perez has performed with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony, Radio Television Espanola, Seville Royal Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Malaga and Cordoba Symphonies, and the Andres Segovia and Spanish National Youth Orchestras.

Program 6: May 19-20

The incomparable Phillipe Bianconi will be at the piano for the Monterey Symphony’s final program of the season, performing Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Liszt perfected the art of thematic transformation and took it to an extreme level with this impassioned concerto.

French pianist Bianconi has been described as an artist whose playing is “always close to the soul of the music, filling the space with poetry and life” (Washington Post), “an extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste which lent the music a freshness, immediacy and conviction one all too seldom encounters” (The London Times). After winning the Silver Medal in the Seventh Van Cliburn International Competition, Bianconi made an acclaimed recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1987 and, since then, has enthralled audiences and critics throughout the world.

Also featured will be Manuel de Falla’s lovely Noches en los Jardines de Espana, his most impressionist-style work, which details three gardens in a setting for piano and orchestra.

Chamber Program: Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church)

The Monterey Symphony is pleased to offer a special holiday chamber music treat, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok, with selections that include Piazzolla, Beethoven, Mozart, and the Hampton String Quartet’s “What if Mozart wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!”

Come have fun and enjoy holiday music in a classical style with the Monterey Symphony chamber players.

The mission of the Monterey Symphony is to engage, educate and excite our community through the performance and continual discovery of symphonic music.

The Monterey Symphony, under the artistic leadership of Music Director & Conductor Max Bragado-Darman, is the only fully professional, full-season orchestra serving the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur, and San Benito County. It provides double performances of a six-concert subscription series at Carmel’s Sunset Theater, as well as youth education programs that include in-class visits and culminate in full-orchestra concerts for school children.

The Monterey Symphony is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, supported in part through the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Monterey Symphony, and through grants from The Arts Council of Monterey County, The Berkshire Foundation, The Buffet Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Community Foundation for Monterey County, Frisone Family Foundation, The Harden Foundation, The Todd Lueders Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Monterey County Weekly Community Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, Music Performance Trust Fund, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Samson Foundation, Warren and Katharine Schlinger Foundation, Alexander F. Victor Foundation, and many other generous foundations and individual donors.

The Monterey Symphony is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, supported in part through the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Monterey Symphony, and through grants from The Arts Council of Monterey County, California Arts Council, The Berkshire Foundation, The Buffet Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Community Foundation for Monterey County, Frisone Family Foundation, The Harden Foundation, The Todd Lueders Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Monterey County Weekly Community Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, Music Performance Trust Fund, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Samson Foundation, Warren and Katharine Schlinger Foundation, Alexander F. Victor Foundation, and many other generous foundations and individual donors.

For additional information, please call 831-646-8511 or visit our web site: www.montereysymphony.org.

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

marci@chatterboxpublicrelations.com

http://www.montereysymphony.org

Business

The Nonprofit Monterey Symphony Selects Nicola Reilly as its New Executive Director

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Nicola Reilly has been named Executive Director for the Monterey Symphony, the only fully professional, full-season orchestra serving the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur and San Benito County.

Monterey, CA, July 06, 2017 — Nicola Reilly has been named Executive Director for the Monterey Symphony, the only fully professional, full-season orchestra serving the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur and San Benito County.

Reilly was serving as Director of Institutional Advancement for the Symphony when she was tapped to be Executive Director by the Symphony Board of Directors.

“Nicola will be responsible for managing the staff of the Symphony and all aspects of its operations. She will continue to be in charge of the Symphony’s marketing and development activities, with the support of myself and the board of directors. We believe that this move will provide the ability for the Symphony to prosper as its presents its 72nd Season, Concert Grand, beginning in October,” said Lee Rosen, Board President.

Prior to joining the Symphony, Reilly was the Director of Development for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at California State University Monterey Bay and previously served as the Director of Development and Marketing for the Carmel Bach Festival.

A Seattle native, Reilly held positions at Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Medieval Women’s Choir, The Column Group and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She currently sits on the board of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras as their membership chair.

A classically trained violinist, Reilly has toured, performed and recorded with Sky Cries Mary and Mastodon. On the Monterey Peninsula, she is a member of Tuxedo Boombox and occasionally plays with other ensembles.

Reilly holds an advanced degree in Arts Administration from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature and Music History from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

About the Monterey Symphony

The mission of the Monterey Symphony is to engage, educate and excite its community through the performance and continual discovery of symphonic music.

Under the artistic leadership of Music Director & Conductor Max Bragado-Darman, the Monterey Symphony provides triple performances of a six-concert subscription series at Carmel’s Sunset Theater and Salinas’s Sherwood Hall, as well as youth education programs that include visits to classrooms by musicians and culminate in full-orchestra concerts for school children.

The Monterey Symphony is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, supported in part through the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Monterey Symphony, and through grants.

For additional information, please call 831-646-8511 or visit our website: www.montereysymphony.org.

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereysymphony.org

Entertainment

Monterey Symphony’s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20

Leave a comment

An exceptional lineup of celebrated pianists will perform iconic works by Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Mozart, de Falla and Liszt during the Monterey Symphony’s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20.

Salinas, CA, June 28, 2017 – The season, entitled “Concert Grand,” is under the direction of Maestro Max Bragado-Darman, whose guest pianists will Orion Weiss, David Jae-Weon Huh, Josu de Solaun, Juan Perez Floristan, Phillipe Bianconi, and one more to be selected by guest conductor Conner Gray Covington, who will preside over the March 17-18 program.

The symphony also will be performing pieces by Dvorak, Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, de Falla and Tchaikovsky.

All programs will be performed at the Sunset Center (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Mission streets) in Carmel at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Special youth concerts, also at the Sunset Center, have been scheduled Oct. 16, March 19 and April 23, with performances at 9:30 and 11 a.m. on each date.

The Monterey Symphony‘s chamber players will present a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at All Saints Church (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Monte Verde streets in Carmel).

For ticket information, call 831-646-8511, visit the website at www.montereysymphony.org, or send an email to info@montereysymphony.org.

Here’s an in-depth look at the upcoming season:

Program 1: Oct. 14 and 15 (with youth concert on Oct. 16)

Pianist Orion Weiss, a favorite of Monterey Symphony fans, will lend his virtuosic skills to Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (originally composed for the historically acclaimed Nikolai Rubinstein) in the season opener, during which the orchestra will perform Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” Op. 95.

Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim.

Program 2: Nov. 18-19

South Korean-born David Jae-Weon Huh, silver medalist at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will lend his talents to Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26, in this powerful program, which also will include the Symphony’s interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 (“Pastoral.)

Recognized for his sense of poetry and technical brilliance, Huh has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and has appeared in numerous festivals, including recitals at Animato den Paris, San Francisco Music Festival, and Leipzig Euro Music Festival, among many others.

This will be his first appearance with the Monterey Symphony.

Program 3: Feb. 17-18

Josu de Solaun, first-prize winner at the 2014 Enescu Piano Competition, will join the Symphony to perform Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 103 in a concert that also will include Symphony renditions of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61.

de Solaun’s teachers, mentors, and musical influences have Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Ricardo Roca, Ana Guijarro, Maria Teresa Naranjo, Albert and Miyoko Lotto, Joaquin Achucarro, Matti Raekallio, Edna Golandsky, and Jerome Lowenthal.

Symphony audiences will remember de Solaun for his previous solo recital, featuring Mussogorky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Program 4: March 17-18 (with youth concert on March 19)

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with the Monterey Symphony and wall-to-wall Mozart, a program that will include the overture from his beloved opera, Don Giovanni.

This concert will be performed under the baton of guest conductor Connor Gray Covington (recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Utah Symphony) and will include Mozart’s Symphony No. 1, KV 16, and Symphony No. 41, KV 551 (“Jupiter”).

Covington is currently completing his tenure as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he is being mentored by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. He recently made his debut with the Curtis Symphony at Carnegie Hall, sharing the podium with Ludovic Morlot.

A special guest pianist, to be selected by Covington, also will be part of this spectacular program.

Program 5: April 21-22 (with youth concert on April 23)

Guest pianist Juan Perez Floristan, winner at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will showcase his talents with a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 83, in a program that also will include the Symphony’s rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 (“Italian”) — a piece Mendelssohn, himself, declared to be the “jolliest” he ever composed.

Regarded as a beacon among new generations of Spanish and European musicians, Perez has performed with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony, Radio Television Espanola, Seville Royal Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Malaga and Cordoba Symphonies, and the Andres Segovia and Spanish National Youth Orchestras.

Program 6: May 19-20

The incomparable Phillipe Bianconi will be at the piano for the Monterey Symphony’s final program of the season, performing Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Liszt perfected the art of thematic transformation and took it to an extreme level with this impassioned concerto.

French pianist Bianconi has been described as an artist whose playing is “always close to the soul of the music, filling the space with poetry and life” (Washington Post), “an extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste which lent the music a freshness, immediacy and conviction one all too seldom encounters” (The London Times). After winning the Silver Medal in the Seventh Van Cliburn International Competition, Bianconi made an acclaimed recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1987 and, since then, has enthralled audiences and critics throughout the world.

Also featured will be Manuel de Falla’s lovely Noches en los Jardines de Espana, his most impressionist-style work, which details three gardens in a setting for piano and orchestra.

Chamber Program: Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church)

The Monterey Symphony is pleased to offer a special holiday chamber music treat, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok, with selections that include Piazzolla, Beethoven, Mozart, and the Hampton String Quartet’s “What if Mozart wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!”

Come have fun and enjoy holiday music in a classical style with the Monterey Symphony chamber players.

Lee Rosen, President and Acting Executive Director stated “We are also announcing an important change with respect to our venues for the upcoming season. Our current business model with 3 performances in 2 venues has become untenable and cost prohibitive to the organization. Therefore, we have decided to consolidate in one venue – the Sunset Center in Carmel and welcome all of our subscribers and patrons from North County, the Salinas Valley, and San Benito County, to attend our Sunset Center concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. This change will allow us to concentrate on growing our audience to capacity and dealing with one venue infrastructure.”

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereysymphony.org

Entertainment

Monterey Symphony’s Fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20

Leave a comment

An exceptional lineup of celebrated pianists will perform iconic works by Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Mozart, de Falla and Liszt during the Monterey Symphony’s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20.

Monterey, CA, March 06, 2017 – An exceptional lineup of celebrated pianists will perform iconic works by Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Mozart, de Falla and Liszt during the Monterey Symphony‘s fabulous Season 72, a six-concert series that begins Oct. 14-15, and runs through May 19-20.

The season, entitled “Concert Grand,” is under the direction of Maestro Max Bragado-Darman, whose guest pianists will Orion Weiss, David Jae-Weon Huh, Josu de Solaun, Juan Perez Floristan, Phillipe Bianconi, and one more to be selected by guest conductor Conner Gray Covington, who will preside over the March 17-18 program.

The symphony also will be performing pieces by Dvorak, Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, de Falla and Tchaikovsky.

All programs will be performed at the Sunset Center (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Mission streets) in Carmel at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Special youth concerts, also at the Sunset Center, have been scheduled Oct. 16, March 19 and April 23, with performances at 9:30 and 11 a.m. on each date.

The Monterey Symphony‘s chamber players will present a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at All Saints Church (Ninth Avenue, between San Carlos and Monte Verde streets in Carmel).

For ticket information, call 831-646-8511, visit the website at www.montereysymphony.org, or send an email to info@montereysymphony.org.

Here’s an in-depth look at the upcoming season:

Program 1: Oct. 14 and 15 (with youth concert on Oct. 16)

Pianist Orion Weiss, a favorite of Monterey Symphony fans, will lend his virtuosic skills to Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (originally composed for the historically acclaimed Nikolai Rubinstein) in the season opener, during which the orchestra will perform Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” Op. 95.

Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim.

Program 2: Nov. 18-19

South Korean-born David Jae-Weon Huh, silver medalist at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will lend his talents to Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26, in this powerful program, which also will include the Symphony’s interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 (“Pastoral.)

Recognized for his sense of poetry and technical brilliance, Huh has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and has appeared in numerous festivals, including recitals at Animato den Paris, San Francisco Music Festival, and Leipzig Euro Music Festival, among many others.

This will be his first appearance with the Monterey Symphony.

Program 3: Feb. 17-18

Josu de Solaun, first-prize winner at the 2014 Enescu Piano Competition, will join the Symphony to perform Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 103 in a concert that also will include Symphony renditions of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61.

de Solaun’s teachers, mentors, and musical influences have Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Ricardo Roca, Ana Guijarro, Maria Teresa Naranjo, Albert and Miyoko Lotto, Joaquin Achucarro, Matti Raekallio, Edna Golandsky, and Jerome Lowenthal.

Symphony audiences will remember de Solaun for his previous solo recital, featuring Mussogorky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Program 4: March 17-18 (with youth concert on March 19)

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with the Monterey Symphony and wall-to-wall Mozart, a program that will include the overture from his beloved opera, Don Giovanni.

This concert will be performed under the baton of guest conductor Connor Gray Covington (recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Utah Symphony) and will include Mozart’s Symphony No. 1, KV 16, and Symphony No. 41, KV 551 (“Jupiter”).

Covington is currently completing his tenure as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he is being mentored by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. He recently made his debut with the Curtis Symphony at Carnegie Hall, sharing the podium with Ludovic Morlot.

A special guest pianist, to be selected by Covington, also will be part of this spectacular program.

Program 5: April 21-22 (with youth concert on April 23)

Guest pianist Juan Perez Floristan, winner at the 2015 Santander Piano Competition, will showcase his talents with a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 83, in a program that also will include the Symphony’s rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 (“Italian”) — a piece Mendelssohn, himself, declared to be the “jolliest” he ever composed.

Regarded as a beacon among new generations of Spanish and European musicians, Perez has performed with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony, Radio Television Espanola, Seville Royal Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Malaga and Cordoba Symphonies, and the Andres Segovia and Spanish National Youth Orchestras.

Program 6: May 19-20

The incomparable Phillipe Bianconi will be at the piano for the Monterey Symphony’s final program of the season, performing Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Liszt perfected the art of thematic transformation and took it to an extreme level with this impassioned concerto.

French pianist Bianconi has been described as an artist whose playing is “always close to the soul of the music, filling the space with poetry and life” (Washington Post), “an extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste which lent the music a freshness, immediacy and conviction one all too seldom encounters” (The London Times). After winning the Silver Medal in the Seventh Van Cliburn International Competition, Bianconi made an acclaimed recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1987 and, since then, has enthralled audiences and critics throughout the world.

Also featured will be Manuel de Falla’s lovely Noches en los Jardines de Espana, his most impressionist-style work, which details three gardens in a setting for piano and orchestra.

Chamber Program: Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church)

The Monterey Symphony is pleased to offer a special holiday chamber music treat, featuring concertmaster Christina Mok, with selections that include Piazzolla, Beethoven, Mozart, and the Hampton String Quartet’s “What if Mozart wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!”

Come have fun and enjoy holiday music in a classical style with the Monterey Symphony chamber players.

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://www.montereysymphony.org/

Music

The Monterey Symphony Announces its 71st season, entitled “Shakespeare in Music”

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The Monterey Symphony has announced that its 71st season, entitled “Shakespeare in Music,” will feature four eclectic chamber concerts, including two in October and a Christmas concert in December

Monterey, CA, August 20, 2016 – The Monterey Symphony has announced that its 71st season, entitled “Shakespeare in Music,” will feature four eclectic chamber concerts, including two in October and a Christmas concert in December, (each at All Saints Episcopal Church in Carmel) plus one more event at Carmel’s fabulous Sunset Center on back-to-back dates in January.

Tickets

Single Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by phone at 831-646-8511 or online at www.montereysymphony.org. Tickets will also be sold 90 minutes before show time at the venue.

General admission tickets for concerts at All Saints’ Episcopal Church (Dolores & Ninth Ave, Carmel) are priced at $25 for general admission and $10 for students and active military.

General admission tickets for concerts at the Sunset Center (San Carlos at Ninth Avenue, Carmel) are priced at $50 for Premium Seating and $25 for general admission.

CHAMBER CONCERT PROGRAM 1 – CHAMBER MUSIC WITH CLARINET
All Saints Episcopal Church, Carmel
October 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

The first program in the Monterey Symphony’s 2016/17 Chamber Series will feature the clarinet, including works by Kokai, Debussy, and Brahms. The music on this program may not often be heard, but it will be masterfully presented by musicians from the orchestra, including Concertmaster Christina Mok, violin; Steve Sanchez, clarinet; Tina Minn, violin; Chad Kaltinger, viola; and Drew Ford, cello.

Program:
Kokai – Quartettino for Clarinet and String Trio
Debussy – String Quartet in g minor, Op. 10
Brahms – Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet, Op. 115

CHAMBER CONCERT PROGRAM 2 – MYRIAD FACES OF RUSSIA
All Saints Episcopal Church, Carmel
October 18, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

Presented as a part of the ICONS in Transformation International Contemporary Art Exhibit at All Saint’s Episcopal Church that runs from September 25 – November 20, 2016. An exhibition of contemporary art and traditional icons with 130 selects pieces by Russian-born artist, Ludmila Pawlowska.

This all-Russian program presented by our October concert Guest Artists: Anna Petrova, piano; Rebecca Anderson, violin; and JeongHyoun Christine Lee, cello; will feature composers from around the turn of the twentieth century – Arensky, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev. Stravinksy’s Suite Italienne is an arrangement of music from his ballet Pulcinella for cello and piano, and the deep and dark Prokofiev Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano was composed for friends lost during the Stalin regime. The Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor by Arensky may not be well-known, but it is a highlight of the program!

Program:
Igor Stravinsky
Suite italienne for Cello and Piano (arr. from Pulcinella)
Sergey Prokofiev
Sonata No. 1 in f minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 80
Anton Arensky
Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor, Op. 32

CHAMBER CONCERT PROGRAM 3 – CHRISTMAS POTPOURRI
All Saints Episcopal Church, Carmel
December 8, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

This delightful program features concertos, sonatas, interludes and tangos! Corelli’s “Christmas Concerto” and Bach’s Brandenburg No. 5 highlight this concert program that parries itself with the Hampton String Quartet’s Mozartian rendition of holiday favorites. Do not miss this performance of passionate players including guest artist Michael Peterson, harpsichord, and Monterey Symphony musicians including Dawn Walker, flute; Concertmaster Christina Mok, violin; Jessica Poll, violin; Chad Kaltinger, viola; Isaac Pastor-Chermak, cello; and Bruce Moyer, bass, in a concert that will also include works by Ibert, Leclaire, and Piazzolla.

Program:
Corelli – Concerto Grosso, Op.6, No. 8 “Christmas Concerto” (arr. for String Quartet)
Piazzolla – Tangos for Violin and Double Bass
Leclair – Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord in D Major, Op. 9, No.3
Ibert – Deux Interludes for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord
Christmas Carol Selections from the Hampton String Quartet’s What if Mozart wrote, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’
White Christmas – Winter Wonderland – Let it Snow
J.S. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D Major, BWV 1050

CHAMBER CONCERT PROGRAM 4 – CURTIS ON TOUR: CURTIS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Sunset Center, Carmel
January 13, 2017 at 8:00 p.m & January 14, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.

Presented in cooperation with the Sunset Center.

CURTIS ON TOUR: CURTIS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA – the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music

Do not miss this special treat to hear some of America’s greatest young musicians from the renowned Curtis Institute of Music! Featured will be legendary violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi and violist and Curtis president Roberto Diaz, along with five outstanding violin students performing Mozart’s five violin concertos – a truly unique and profoundly musical event!

Performance 1 – Friday, 13 January 2017, 8 p.m.
Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 207
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219

Performance 2 – Saturday, 14 January 2017, 2 p.m.
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major, K. 211
Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218
Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 364

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455
http://www.montereysymphony.org/

Entertainment

Monterey Symphony Announces Spring 2015 Concerts

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Tickets on Sale for Charismatic Glow: February 20-22, 2015

Monterey, CA, December 15, 2014 — The 69th season of the Monterey Symphony continues into Spring 2015 with a brilliant range of classical performances sure to astound you! International guest artists will perform colorful works with the Monterey Symphony orchestra on the stages of Sherwood Hall in Salinas and Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Mini-series subscriptions are still available for the remaining four concerts in Spring 2015, along with a three-concert FlexPass that allows you to choose concerts up to the day of the event subject to availability.

Mini-series subscribers are assured the best seats available, free ticket exchanges, and VIP privileges. Celebrate this colorful season with the Monterey Symphony, along with the 10th Anniversary of Music Director and Conductor Max Bragado-Darman.

The Spring 2015 repertoire blooms with Spanish pianist, Joaquin Achúcarro, in February, and Icelandic violinist, Judith Ingolfsson, in March. The fifth concert in April, Majestic Realm, alludes to the nostalgia felt for our homeland, with what is certain to be a spectacular performance by violist Roberto Díaz, President of the Curtis Institute of Music and former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The season closes in May with a flamboyant, all orchestral grand finale, Invitation to Dance. Without question, The Colors of Music has something for everyone. (Schedule and details below)

Photo of Joaquin Achúcarro, guest pianist of February concert “Charismatic Glow”
Concert III: Charismatic Glow

* February 20, 21, 22, 2015
* Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody is an immensely popular work, featuring the acclaimed talents of Achúcarro, and promises to be a performance not to miss. Dvorák’s Symphony No. 7 is considered by many to be one of the finest examples from the golden age of the symphony.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor
* Joaquin Achúcarro, piano
* Giménez: Prelude to La Boda de Luis Alonso
* Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 featuring Joaquin Achúcarro, internationally acclaimed pianist from Spain
* Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70
* Concert Sponsored By:

Joaquin Achúcarro, guest pianist:
Described as “one of the greats” by ABC in Madrid and “the consummate artist” by the Chicago Sun-Times, internationally acclaimed Spanish pianist Joaquín Achúcarro has performed recitals in 60 countries and has played with over 200 orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, La Scala of Milan, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philarmonia, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, RIAS Berlin, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, National de France, Hallé, City of Birmingham, Royal Scottish, RTA Ireland, Western Australia, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Sta Cecilia Roma, RAI, Arena de Verona, Orchestra Verdi, and the National Orchestras of Spain, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, among many others. He has performed under an impressive list of 342 of the world´s greatest conductors, such as Abbado, Boult, Chailly, Mehta, Menuhin, Ozawa and Rattle.

Born in Bilbao, Spain, Achúcarro studied in Madrid, Paris, Vienna, and Salzburg.

His international career was launched with his victory in England at the 1959 Liverpool International Competition and subsequent debut with the London Symphony, and from that time, he has maintained an uninterrupted concert schedule. Since 1989, Achúcarro has held the specially endowed Joel Estes Tate Chair in piano at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, adjusting his teaching periods to his busy performance schedule. He is also a Professor at the Summer International Courses of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

He has received Spain’s highest honors in the arts including the Premio Nacional de Música, the Gold Medal of Fine Arts, and the Great Cross of Civil Merit honoring his lifetime achievement. He was also named “Artist for Peace 2000” by UNESCO and “Beloved Son” by the city of Bilbao, and received the “Universal Basque” awarded by the Basque Government.
Source: http://joaquinachucarro.wordpress.com

The Facts:
Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ($20; all seats general admission) at Sherwood Hall, 940 N Main St, Salinas, CA 93906

Saturdays at 8 p.m. ($29-$79) and Sundays at 3 p.m. ($29-$79) at Sunset Center, San Carlos Street at 9th Avenue, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921

Pre-Concert Lecture Series: All concerts will feature a free pre-concert lecture at the concert hall one hour prior to the performance. These lectures, provided by Dr. Todd Samra, offer intriguing facts and historical context about the composers and the pieces to be performed, which greatly enhance the concert-going experience. To learn more about Dr. Samra, visit: http://www.montereysymphony.org/?attachment_id=3832

To purchase tickets or a mini-series subscription, call 831-646-8511 or visit http://www.montereysymphony.org/current-season/ for season details.

Enjoy the best of harmony for your ears, and flavor for your palate, with the Monterey Symphony Supper Club! Share your love of classical music with fellow patrons over three-course dinners and hand-selected wines. Local restaurants that are hosting the Monterey Symphony Supper Club this season include: Vesuvio, Portobello’s, Andre’s Bouchée, Il Fornaio, La Dolce Vita, Gino’s, and Anton & Michel. For reservations, call 831.646.8511 or visit http://www.montereysymphony.org/special-events
Upcoming Spring 2015 Concerts:

Concert IV: Ethereal Skies
* March 20, 21, 22, 2015
* Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto will be spectacular with Ingolfsson and Maestro Max interpreting one of the most romantically beautiful violin concertos. Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 is a challenging work from one of history’s finest symphonic composers, and Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture is simply delightful.
* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor
* Judith Ingolfsson, violin
* Weber: Abu Hassan Overture
* Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 featuring Judith Ingolfsson, internationally acclaimed violinist from Iceland
* Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 82
* Concert Sponsored By:

Concert V: Majestic Realm
* April 17, 18, 19, 2015
* William Walton was a master British composer whose works reflect a level of complexity in melody, meter, and form that enthralls both listeners and musicians alike. Johann Strauss, the Viennese waltz king, and Prokofiev, the Russian master, are also featured.
* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor
* Roberto Díaz, viola
* J. Strauss: Overture to the Gypsy Baron
* Walton: Concerto for Viola featuring Roberto Díaz, President of the Curtis Institute of Music
* Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131
* Concert Sponsored By:

Concert VI: Invitation to Dance
*  May 15, 16, 17, 2015
*  The work on this program that will surprise and thrill is the Ginastera, which may incline our audiences to not sit still…with encore appearances by Weber, Dvorák, and Rachmaninoff, featuring stylized dances of immense beauty and energy.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor
* Weber: Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65
* Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
* Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Nos. 1, 3, 8
* Ginastera: Four Dances from Estancia, Op. 8a
* Concert Sponsored By:

Contact the Monterey Symphony Box Office at 831-646-8511 or email ticketing@montereysymphony.org to purchase tickets or for more information regarding discounted group, student and military rates.

Monterey Symphony, Photo by DMT Imaging

The mission of the Monterey Symphony is to engage, educate and excite our community through the performance and continual discovery of symphonic music.

The Monterey Symphony, under the artistic leadership of Music Director & Conductor Max Bragado-Darman, is the only fully professional, full-season orchestra serving the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur, and San Benito County. It provides triple performances of a six-concert subscription series at Carmel’s Sunset Theater and Salinas’s Sherwood Hall, as well as youth education programs that include visits to classrooms by musicians and culminate in full-orchestra concerts for schoolchildren.

The Monterey Symphony is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, supported in part through the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Monterey Symphony, and through grants from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Harden Foundation, The Robert and Virginia Stanton Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Todd Lueders Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Berkshire Foundation, The Monterey Peninsula Foundation, The Pebble Beach Company Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Arts Council of Monterey County, The S.T.A.R. Foundation, The Hind Foundation, Upjohn California Fund, and many other generous foundations and individual donors.

For additional information, please call 831-646-8511 or visit our web site: www.montereysymphony.org.

Contact:
Lindsey Little
Monterey Symphony
2560 Garden Road, Suite 101
Monterey, CA 93940
831-646-8511
llittle@montereysymphony.org
http://www.montereysymphony.org

Art

Monterey Symphony’s 69th Season — The Colors of Music — Honors the Vibrant Spectrum of Classical Music

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Come celebrate The Colors of Music during the Monterey Symphony’s 2014/15 Season

Monterey, CA, August 21, 2014 — The 69th season of the Monterey Symphony will astound you with the caliber of its orchestra and internationally acclaimed guest artists. A brilliant range of classical performances will emerge across the canvas of the stages at Sherwood Hall in Salinas and Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The Monterey Symphony announced today that single tickets are now on sale! Season subscriptions are still available, including four-concert mini-subscriptions, and a three-concert FlexPass that allows you to choose concerts up to the day of the event subject to availability. Season subscribers are assured the best seats available, free ticket exchanges, and VIP privileges. Celebrate this colorful season with the Monterey Symphony, along with the 10th Anniversary of Music Director and Conductor Max Bragado-Darman.

The Monterey Symphony’s 69th season opens in October 2014, with an exceptional multimedia performance of Disney FANTASIA – Live In Concert. Audiences will watch stunning footage from the animated film, while classical favorites, including excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, are performed live by the orchestra. The concert also represents a new collaboration for the Monterey Symphony with the Carmel International Film Festival, offering savings on the best in classical music and film through a joint, season subscription package.

As the season continues, the Monterey Symphony transports you to colorful cities in Spain, the United States, and France in November’s City Lights concert. Trombonist Charlie Vernon from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra stars in Chick ‘a’ Bone Checkout, a work inspired by Carl Sandburg’s Chicago poem; the young musicians of Youth Music Monterey County perform side-by-side with the orchestra in Ravel’s Alborada del Gracioso, a Spanish work inspired by his Basque heritage; and concludes with Gershwin’s exuberant An American in Paris. The Spring 2015 repertoire blooms with Spanish pianist, Joaquin Achúcarro, in February, and Icelandic violinist, Judith Ingolfsson, in March. The fifth concert in April, Majestic Realm, alludes to the nostalgia felt for our homeland, with what is certain to be a spectacular performance by violist Roberto Díaz, President of the Curtis Institute of Music and former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The season closes in May with a flamboyant, all orchestral grand finale, Invitation to Dance. Without question, The Colors of Music has something for everyone. (Schedule and details below)

Monterey Symphony, Photo by DMT Imaging

The Facts:
* Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ($20; all seats general admission) at Sherwood Hall, Salinas
Saturdays at 8 p.m. ($29-$79) and Sundays at 3 p.m. ($29-$79 at Sunset Center, Carmel-by-the-Sea)

* Pre-Concert Lecture Series: All concerts will feature a free pre-concert lecture at the concert hall one hour prior to the performance. These lectures, provided by Dr. Todd Samra, offer intriguing facts and historical context about the composers and the pieces to be performed, which greatly enhance the concert-going experience. To learn more about Dr. Samra, visit:  http://www.montereysymphony.org/?attachment_id=3832

* Enjoy the best of harmony for your ears, and flavor for your palate, with the Monterey Symphony Supper Club! Share your love of classical music with fellow patrons over three-course dinners and hand-selected wines. Local restaurants that have hosted the Monterey Symphony Supper Club in the past include: Andre’s Bouchée, Il Fornaio, La Dolce Vita, Grasing’s, Gino’s, and Anton & Michel.

* To purchase tickets or a season subscription, call 831-646-8511 or visit http://www.montereysymphony.org/current-season/ for season details.

Max Bragado-Darman, 10th Anniversary as Music Director and Conductor, Photo by DMT Imaging
2014/15 Season Schedule

Concert I: Disney FANTASIA – Live In Concert

* October 10, 11, 12, 2014

* Juan Felipe Molano, guest conductor

* The Monterey Symphony presents a kaleidoscopic presentation of Disney’s groundbreaking marriage of symphonic music and animation: Disney FANTASIA – Live In Concert. Magnificent repertoire from the original 1940 version and FANTASIA 2000, including Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, will be performed while Disney’s stunning footage is shown on the big screen. Experience iconic moments and childhood musical favorites as you never have before! Excerpts from FANTASIA and FANTASIA 2000 (restored HD film clips with orchestra). Presentation licensed by Disney Concert Library ©Disney.

* Sponsored by: Mr. William Smith, Individual donors through Monterey County GIVES!
Media Partner & Sponsor: KSBW & Central Coast ABC

Concert II: City Lights

* November 21, 22, 23, 2014

* Lindberg’s Chick ‘a’ Bone Checkout is the highlight of this concert, written specifically to show off Vernon’s amazing talent; but this concert offers a chance to hear Gershwin on the same program as Ravel and Debussy, who all borrow elements of jazz in their music. The prelude by Debussy is one of the most important works in the orchestral repertoire.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor

* Charlie Vernon, trombone

* Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso

* featuring young musicians from Youth Music Monterey County

* Lindberg: Chick ‘a’ Bone Checkout

* featuring Charlie Vernon, trombonist from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

* Debussy: Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun

* Gershwin: An American in Paris

* Sponsored by: Peter and Jackie Henning

Concert III: Charismatic Glow

* February 20, 21, 22, 2015

* Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody is an immensely popular work, featuring the acclaimed talents of Achúcarro, and promises to be a performance not to miss. Dvorák’s Symphony No. 7 is considered by many to be one of the finest examples from the golden age of the symphony.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor

* Joaquin Achúcarro, piano

* Jiménez: Prelude to La Boda de Luis Alonso

* Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 featuring Joaquin Achúcarro, internationally acclaimed pianist from Spain

* Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70

Concert IV: Ethereal Skies

* March 20, 21, 22, 2015

* Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto will be spectacular with Ingolfsson and Maestro Max interpreting one of the most romantically beautiful violin concertos. Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 is a challenging work from one of history’s finest symphonic composers, and Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture is simply delightful.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor

* Judith Ingolfsson, violin

* Weber: Abu Hassan Overture

* Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 featuring Judith Ingolfsson, internationally acclaimed violinist from Iceland

* Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 82

Concert V: Majestic Realm

* April 17, 18, 19, 2015

* William Walton was a master British composer whose works reflect a level of complexity in melody, meter, and form that enthralls both listeners and musicians alike. Johann Strauss, the Viennese waltz king, and Prokofiev, the Russian master, are also featured.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor

* Roberto Díaz, viola

* J. Strauss: Overture to the Gypsy Baron

* Walton: Concerto for Viola featuring Roberto Díaz, President of the Curtis Institute of Music

* Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131

Concert VI: Invitation to Dance

* May 15, 16, 17, 2015

* The work on this program that will surprise and thrill is the Ginastera, which may incline our audiences to not sit still…with encore appearances by Weber, Dvorák, and Rachmaninoff, featuring stylized dances of immense beauty and energy.

* Max Bragado-Darman, conductor

* Weber: Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65

* Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

* Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Nos. 1, 3, 8

* Ginastera: Four Dances from Estancia, Op. 8a

Contact: Lindsey Little, Marketing Associate 831-645-1124 | llittle@montereysymphony.org

Contact the Monterey Symphony Box Office at 831-646-8511 or email ticketing@montereysymphony.org to purchase tickets or for more information regarding discounted group, student and military rates.

The mission of the Monterey Symphony is to engage, educate and excite our community through the performance and continual discovery of symphonic music.

The Monterey Symphony, under the artistic leadership of Music Director & Conductor Max Bragado-Darman, is the only fully professional, full-season orchestra serving the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur, and San Benito County. It provides triple performances of a six-concert subscription series at Carmel’s Sunset Theater and Salinas’s Sherwood Hall, as well as youth education programs that include visits to classrooms by musicians and culminate in full-orchestra concerts for schoolchildren.

The Monterey Symphony is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, supported in part through the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Monterey Symphony, and through grants from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Harden Foundation, The Robert and Virginia Stanton Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Todd Lueders Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Community Foundation for Monterey County, The Berkshire Foundation, The Monterey Peninsula Foundation, The Pebble Beach Company Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Arts Council of Monterey County, The S.T.A.R. Foundation, The Hind Foundation, Upjohn California Fund, and many other generous foundations and individual donors.

For additional information, please call 831-646-8511 or visit our web site: www.montereysymphony.org.

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox
Carmel, CA 93923
831-747-7455
http://www.montereysymphony.org