Classical Music Recitals in March and April Include: Violinist Hilary Hahn with Ukrainian Pianist Valentina Lisitsa, Organist Jane Parker-Smith and Pianist Krystian Zimerman at the Kimmel Center
FEBRUARY 11, 2009
Hilary Hahn
Kimmel Center presents three classical music recitals throughout the months of March and April: from a performance on the venerable King of Instruments to the return of a Curtis Institute graduate performing Hungarian and Romanian folk dances with a Ukrainian pianist on the Verizon Hall stage.
- Two-time Grammy® Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn and Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa perform in Verizon Hall (Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 8pm).
- Organist Jane Parker-Smith makes her Kimmel Center debut on the renowned Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ (Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 3pm).
- Hailed by the BBC as a "truly remarkable pianist," Krystian Zimerman performs a solo recital in Verizon Hall (Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 8pm)
Tickets 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 for an evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Hilary Hahn, violin
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 8pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $29-$70
"Hahn is one of those rare performers who can dazzle you with the
warmth of her personality and knock you dead with the dexterity of her
technique and the emotional depth of her interpretations."
Grammy® Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn performs with Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 8pm. A Curtis Institute graduate, Hahn’s meteoric rise began in 2001 when Time magazine named her "America’s Best" young classical musician; eight years later, Gramophone magazine recently named her Artist of the Year. Hahn was recently honored with her second Grammy® Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) for her recording of Violin Concertos of Schoenberg and Sibelius (2008). Her recital with Lisitsa will include solo and duo sonatas by Ives and Ysaÿe as well as Bach's Hungarian Dances and Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances.
Renowned for her innovative interpretations and thoughtful musicianship, Hilary Hahn was admitted at the age of 10 to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with the legendary Jascha Brodsky for seven years, followed by Felix Galimer, Gary Graffman and Jaime Laredo. Hahn made her professional debut at age 11 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and has since established an illustrious career as a solo recitalist and in appearances with major orchestras in North America, Asia and Europe.
When she was 25 years old, Hahn received a Grammy® Award for her recording of the Brahms and Stravinsky Violin Concertos. Her 2008 release of Violin Concertos of Schoenberg and Sibelius debuted at number one, spending 23 weeks on the Billboard classical chart. In February 2009, Hahn appeared as soloist in the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, co-commissioned by the Indianapolis, Toronto and Baltimore symphonies and the Curtis Institute of Music. Her crossover projects include performances with singers-songwriters Josh Ritter and Tom Brosseau, and a recording of a concerto written for her by composer-performer Edgar Meyer. Hahn is the featured soloist on the Oscar-nominated soundtrack for M. Night Shyamalan’s film The Village (2004).
Part of a new generation of classical musicians, Hahn has explored online social media as a way of connecting with her audience and expanding its base. She has launched her own YouTube channel, used for answering fans’ questions, and recently hosted a Q&A session to honor late composer Arnold Schoenberg’s birthday. She is also a fan of social messaging Web site Twitter and keeps an online journal, http://www.hilaryhahn.com/journal.shtml.
Widely known and respected as a duo-pianist alongside her husband Alexei Kuznetsoff, Valentina Lisitsa has maintained an active international schedule of recitals and performances as soloist with major orchestras. Lisitsa is currently embarking on an ambitious project of recording all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas. A highly anticipated new album featuring works by Beethoven, Schumann, Thalberg and Liszt is scheduled for release in 2009.
Lisitsa’s recent collaborations include tours with the New Zealand Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic and Prague Chamber Orchestra, as well as a performance at the Grant Park Festival in Chicago that the Chicago Sun-Times described as "jaw-dropping." Lisitsa is the recipient of numerous international prizes, such as the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition, the Paris Chamber Music Competition and the Ukrainian Chamber Music Competition.
"The way Lisitsa shapes a phrase, quick-changing from a flowing
legato touch to a crisp staccato and back again, gives Mozart's music
an extra, joyful lift. The technique glitters like cut glass, with
never a hint of overpedaling. Lisitsa's constant smile as she plays
might be suspect in some pianists, but here it mirrored an irresistibly
smiling sound."
Hilary Hahn and Valentina Lisitsa Program
YSAŸE: Sonata for Solo Violin No. 4, Op. 27
IVES: Sonata No. 4 for violin and piano
BRAHMS: (arr. Joachim) Hungarian Dances 10, 11, 12, 19, 5, 20, & 21
IVES: Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano
YSAŸE: Sonata for Solo Violin No. 6, Op. 27
YSAŸE: Rêve d'Enfant for violin and piano, op. 14
IVES: Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano
BARTÓK: Romanian Folk Dances
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 | 6:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Free at the Kimmel
Join us for a free musical performance on the Commonwealth Plaza stage
prior to the ticketed performance by Hilary Hahn with Valentina Lisitsa
in Verizon Hall.
Jane Parker-Smith, organ
Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 3pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $19-$28
"...She demonstrated that the venerable king of instruments can also function as an effective showcase for an organist with dazzling theatrical flair."—Cleveland Plain Dealer
Celebrated concert organist Jane Parker-Smith makes her Kimmel Center debut on the renowned Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ in Verizon Hall on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 3pm as part of the Master Musicians Organ Series. Her skillful interpretive abilities and "flashy Ferrari fingerwork" (Gramophone) have gained worldwide acclaim throughout her more than 30-year career. Her program includes works by Bach, Liszt, Franck and Vierne, among others.
Jane Parker-Smith studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where she won numerous prizes and scholarships, including the Walford Davies Prize for organ performance. Further studies with legendary blind organist Jean Langlais in Paris deepened her understanding of 20th Century French organ music, for which she has become internationally renowned. Parker-Smith made her London debut at Westminster Cathedral at the age of 20, and two years later made her first solo appearance at the BBC Promenade Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall. Since then, she has performed at major venues and international festivals all over the world, as both recitalist and concert soloist.
Parker-Smith’s extensive concerto repertoire has earned her performances with many leading orchestras, including the BBC Symphony and the BBC Concert Orchestras, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, among many others. She has collaborated with preeminent conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Serge Baudo, Carl Davis, Vernon Handley, Matthias Bamert and Richard Hickox. In 2007, Parker-Smith was a featured artist for the American Guild of Organists Region II Convention in New York City and the AGO Region V Convention in Columbus, Ohio.
Parker-Smith has recorded a wide range of solo repertoire for major labels and has broadcast regularly on radio and television, including appearances on the BBC and German and Swiss television. Her extensive discography includes a collaboration with the renowned Maurice André in a duo recording of music for trumpet and organ. Her most recent release, Romantic and Virtuoso Organ Works (Vol. 2) (2007), features Parker-Smith performing at the Great Seifert organ of St. Marien Basilika Kevelaer. In early March 2009, she will release the third volume in this series, recorded at the church of St. Gudula in Rhede, Germany. Jane Parker-Smith Program:
BACH: Pièce d'orgue BWV 572
LISZT: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (tr. Jane Parker-Smith)
BOVET: Hamburger Totentanz
DUPARC: Aux étoiles, nocturne for orchestra (tr. Paul Fournier)
LANDMANN: Variations on a theme by Georg Friedrich Händel, Op. 29
HOWELLS: Rhapsody in C sharp minor, Op. 17 No. 3
VIERNE: Stèle pour un enfant défunt
ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance Military March, Op. 39 No. 4 ( tr. G. Robertson Sinclair)
FRANCK: Fantaisie in A major
LEIDEL: Toccata delectatione, Op. 5 No. 35
Saturday, March 7, 2009 | 2:15pm
Verizon Hall | Artist Chat
Artist Chat: Jane Parker-Smith
This concert will be preceded by an Artist Chat featuring Michael Barone, host of American Public Media’s "Pipedreams."
The Master Musicians Organ Series is supported by Reed Smith, LLP.
Krystian Zimerman, piano
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 8pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $29-$60
"...Exquisite, eloquent, distinctive, witty, probing, shrewd,
utterly satisfying, jaw-dropping virtuosic playing... He masters
everything."
Internationally renowned Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman performs in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 8pm. Best known for his interpretations of Romantic music, Zimerman received direct tutelage for 13 years from conductor Leonard Bernstein, performing under Bernstein during recording sessions and in concert appearances throughout Europe and the United States. His Kimmel Center recital includes a performance on his own personally adjusted concert piano, with which he has traveled for more than 15 years.
Trained by Andrzej Jasínski, a senior lecturer at the music conservatory in Katowice, Poland, Zimerman’s career was launched in 1975 upon winning the Frédéric Chopin Piano competition in Warsaw. He performed with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan in 1976 and he made his debut in the United States with the New York Philharmonic in 1979. He has since performed worldwide in recitals, as a soloist and with preeminent musicians such as Kaja Danczowska, Kyung-Wha Chung and Gidon Kremer, among many others.
An advocate for contemporary music, Zimerman continues to perform the Piano Concerto written for him by Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski to much critical acclaim. He debuted the piece during the Warsaw Autumn Festival of Contemporary Music in 1988 with the composer as conductor. Zimerman also boasts an affinity for performing music in the place and culture of its origin: French works in Paris; Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert in Vienna; Brahms in Hamburg; American music played in New York and, in one notable instance, conducted by the composer himself—Leonard Bernstein.
Zimerman has collaborated with Deutsche Grammophon for more than 25 years, having released more than two dozen recordings, including critically acclaimed Rachmaninoff Concertos with the Boston Symphony. His 2006 release features a recording of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to his recording credits, Zimerman received the "Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur," the highest civilian award given by the French government. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Katowice Music Academy, a special distinction, as it is only the second time in the University's history that an honorary doctorate has been awarded.
"Mr. Zimerman captures both the youthful sweep and the mature intricacy in a riveting performance."
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | 6:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Free at the Kimmel
Join
us for a free musical performance on the Commonwealth Plaza stage prior
to the ticketed performance by Krystian Zimerman in Verizon Hall.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2008-09 Season is sponsored by Citi. The Great Orchestras on Tour Series is supported by 10 Rittenhouse Square. Additional support is provided by PENN Medicine, American Express, and Interpark. 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.
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