Organist James David Christie Performs Splendors of the Baroque and French Fireworks at the Kimmel Center, May 2
APRIL 8, 2009
Internationally acclaimed organist James David Christie makes his Kimmel Center debut on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 3pm in Verizon Hall. A highly sought after organist, Christie has performed with major symphony orchestras throughout the world, and currently splits his work between positions on the organ faculty at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and his alma mater, Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. A renowned expert in the performance of Baroque music, he will perform a program entitled Splendors of the Baroque and French Fireworks, featuring music of Bach, Langlais, Marchand and Barié.
This performance will be preceded by a free Artist Chat in Verizon Hall featuring James David Christie and Michael Barone, host of American Public Media’s "Pipedreams."
"In this literature Christie has few peers. Beneath his hands and feet Sweelinck, Scheidt, and Scheidemann, music as much as 400 years-old, lived and breathed, danced and sang. Subtly buoyant throughout...exquisitely registered." — American Organist
Tickets for James David Christie are available for $19 and $28 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning at 5:30pm prior to evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Since becoming the first American to win First Prize in the International Organ Competition in Bruges, Belgium in August 1979, James David Christie has continued to magnetize audiences with his stellar organ performances throughout the world. In July 2009, Christie will perform a concert as part of the 2009 Toronto International Organ Festival sponsored by Royal College of Canadian Organists, as well as the gala opening concert of the American Guild of Organists Convention in Boston with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in a program of all-French works for organ and orchestra. He will also serve on the jury for the St. Albans International Organ Competition in England and perform a concert there as part of the St. Albans International Music Festival in 2009.
Christie is the founder and music director of Ensemble Abendmusik, a Boston-based period instrument orchestra and chorus specializing in music of the 17th century. With Ensemble Abendmusik, Christie has recorded two Jesuit operas, The Apotheosis of St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier (1622) by Johann Kapsberger and St. Ignatius of Loyola (ca. 1720) by Domenico Zipoli. His most recent solo recording, Modern Landmarks, Vol. 1, features a recital program of Baroque works.
Christie has performed in solo concerts as well as with major symphony and period instrument orchestras under such conductors as Kurt Masur, Klaus Tennstedt, Gunthur Schuller, Arthur Fiedler, Colin Davis, Andrew Davis and Sir Simon Rattle, among many others. He has performed for major music festivals in Boston, New York, Montréal, Naples, Leipzig, Paris, Milan, Vienna, London, Prague, Tokyo, and many other cities. His concert appearances include those with the Boston Symphony (Glagolitic Mass of Janacek under Sir Simon Rattle), the Orchestra of St. Luke's (Fauré's Requiem, under Phillipe Herreweghe - European tour), Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic (Carnegie Hall Festival), and the Boston Philharmonic in Boston and Carnegie Hall under Benjamin Zander.
Christie received his degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory with highest honors including election to Pi Kappa Lambda. The New England Conservatory awarded him its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996. Since 1978, he has served as organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2008-09 Season is sponsored by Citi. Additional support is provided by PENN Medicine, American Express, and Interpark. The Organ Series is sponsored by Reed Smith LLP. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. NBC-10 is a media partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.
The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center's early childhood program "Bop and Swing," an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Saturday, May 2, 2009 | 3pm
Verizon Hall
Master Musicians Organ Series
James David Christie, organ
Splendors of the Baroque and French Fireworks
LOUIS MARCHAND: Troisième Livre (Paris, 1696), Dialogue
JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK: Ricercar
ANONYMOUS: Manuscript of Susanne van Soldt (1599), Almande de la nonnete and Almande
BERNARDO STORACE: Ballo della Battaglia
GIUSEPPE GHERARDESCHI: Rondò in G Major (1787)
JOHANN BERNARD BACH: Ciaconna in B-flat Major (22 variations)
DIETERICH BUXTEHUDE: Praeludium in D Minor (BuxWV 140)
J. GUY ROPARTZ: Sortie in B-flat Major
ALBERT ALAIN: Scherzo (1911)
AUGUSTIN BARIÉ: Élégie
JEAN LANGLAIS: Suite Médiévale, V. Acclamations
JAMES DAVID CHRISTIE: Élégie (2006)
ALEXANDRE GUILMANT: Sonata I in D Minor, Op. 42, III. Final
FREE AT THE KIMMEL:
Saturday, May 2, 2009 | 1:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Free in the Plaza
New Horizons Glee Club
Under
the direction of Selma Savitz, the New Horizons Glee Club returns to
the Commonwealth Plaza stage for its annual Kimmel Center concert prior
to the ticketed performance by organist James David Christie in Verizon
Hall.
Saturday, May 2, 2009 | 2:15pm
Verizon Hall | Artist Chat
Artist Chat: James David Christie
The ticketed concert by organist James David Christie will be preceded
by a free Artist Chat featuring Michael Barone, host of American Public
Media’s "Pipedreams."
Saturday, May 2, 2009 | 5:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Spring Fling
Karlie Bruce
Since
moving to New York City in 2005, Australian singer-songwriter Karlie
Bruce has performed in venues ranging from the famed Bitter End to
Carnegie Hall. Bruce opened for esteemed pianist Brad Mehldau in New
York, and has successfully toured Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Czech
Republic. She was awarded third place in the 2005 Shure Montreux Jazz
Voice Competition, and is a songwriter for BBC International
Television. Bruce can be heard playing in and around New York City with
"Things I Wonder," Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts, Sam Sadigursky’s
"The Words Project," Brooklyn’s disco posse, Escort, and her own
original projects in anticipation of her sophomore CD, due for release
in 2009.
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